World War III
by maxridepercyjacksonpotter
Summary: What if the Muggles found out about the wizards? What if, once they found out, they didn't like it at all? What would happen to Harry and is friends? What would happen to the Muggleborns? Rated T just to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

World War III

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Harry Potter. Any reference to any person, place, book, or song is for the owners of those things. I don't own any of them. Whoever is dim-witted enough to even **_**fathom **_**me being J.K.R. needs to be locked up somewhere where their stupidity won't hurt themselves or others. Like a padded cell. With bars. And elevator music playing in the background. **

**Author's Note: I was just kind of dozing one night, and I realized that there is at least 4 years in between Ginny graduating from Hogwarts and Harry and Ginny having their fist kid. What are they doing in these 4 years? After this thought occurred to me, I fell asleep and had a dream. This is a….reformed version of that dream. Oh! And this is my first fan fic. **

* * *

**Chapter 1 **

_Shiloh, Randwin, and I drew close together, our backs to one another. We all drew our bows and put arrows on our strings. We heard the men get closer, and we drew even closer together. _

_Then they started coming. They were dressed in full armor, their swords shining. They looked like young men, no more than twenty. I looked into their faces, and they looked as if they wanted to join us instead of fight us. _

_Just then, what looked like their leader came through. He was wearing a high cape of midnight blue, and his armor was the cleanest. He laughed when he saw our bows. _

_Everything slowed down, like everything was playing in slow-motion. It always did that when I fought. I could clearly see the leader raise his sword and charge me. _

_I met his sword easily with my own, and he had a surprised look on his face. _

_The leader yanked his sword away from mine, and spun to his right. I easily followed his movements, smiling the whole time. He sent his sword cutting towards my head – _

"Nita!" my mom called.

I groaned, and then shut the book. My mom had the worst timing. She always called in the most crucial parts of the book.

I set the book on my bedside table, and then I stretched. I had read for – I checked my watch – 7 hours. That was what happened when I got a new book. When I read, my mind shuts out all contact from the outside world, and I can't notice time passing.

"Nita!" mom called again.

I sighed, then got up from my squeaky bed. That thing was about as old as dirt. It even had the word Arleen painted on the side. That name is so out of date it's scary. I smiled, then walked out of my room.

My mom was in the kitchen, making stroganoff. My mom is an incredible cook. She makes wonderful dishes, and I get to be the lucky taste-tester. I walked up to her and fished a bite out of the pan she was stirring. I popped it in my mouth and scooted out of the way before my mom could poke me. I rolled the bite around in my mouth and screwed up my face, pretending to ponder the flavor of it.

"Hmm…I deem this stroganoff…perfect!" I said, grinning.

My mom laughed. "It always seems to be perfect when it isn't even done yet."

I grinned wider. "I'm just testing the future flavor of it. I imagine the flavor I want it to be, and presto! The perfect stroganoff."

Mom laughed again. "Hey, could you go get Alex and Aurelia from school? I would, but apparently I'm making the perfect stroganoff."

I nodded. "Sure."

I spun around on my heel and scooped up the keys that had been left on the counter. I made sure my cell phone was in my pocket, and then I jogged to the garage door where we stored our shoes. I slipped on a pair of sandals and simultaneously opened the garage door.

Our car was a green minivan. Not very fast, but great for trips when you have to load a bunch of stuff into the back. Under a sheet in the corner was my 17th birthday present. I hadn't looked at it yet. My birthday was only two days away. I could wait that long.

I hopped in the minivan and inserted the keys. At that moment, the song "What a Wonderful World" came out of my phone. That meant that Candle was calling.

I flipped the phone open. "Hey!" I said cheerily.

"Hey!" Candle replied.

"So what's up?" I asked, cradling the phone between my ear and shoulder as I pulled out of the garage.

"The group wants to get together for another meeting." Candle said, lowering her voice.

I knew why. Our group meetings were very secret. If the government caught us…I tried not to think that through.

"Okay, when?" I said, winding my way through the streets to the school.

"In an hour. At the usual place." Candle told me, her voice even lower.

I nodded even though she couldn't see me. "I'll be there. I just have to drop Alex and Aurelia at home."

"You should bring Alex. He'll want to come." Candle suggested.

I hesitated. "What is the nature of the meeting? Teaching or planning?"

Candle's voice dropped so low I had trouble hearing it over the phone. "Both."

I sighed. "Okay, I'll bring Alex. Should I bring any snacks?" These meetings often lasted deep into the night.

Candle paused for a moment. "Yeah, you should." There was a noise in the background on her end, and then she said "Paul and Andre want brownies."

I laughed. "They always do."

She laughed too. There was another noise, and then she said "Andre said to make sure it's fudge."

I giggled. "Will do. See you in about an hour." I told her.

"Okay. See you then." She said, and then I heard the click.

As soon as I set down my phone, the song "It's the End of the World" came out of it. I sighed, and decided to ignore it. It was Aurelia, probably calling to order me to pick them up.

I patted my pockets, and felt my wand tucked away safely in my back pocket. You see, I'm a witch. I've been going to Hogwarts ever since I turned 11. My parents don't know that I'm a witch. I've kept it from them, because they are the type that freak out at anything out of the ordinary.

I had to keep my wand hidden though. Muggles had found out about us, and they weren't too happy. They blamed us for all their problems, and they wanted to get rid of us. It had basically turned into World War III. The Muggles were going about this in a very organized way. They actually had created weapons that most witches and wizards had no idea to protect themselves from.

That's another reason I kept my abilities from my parents. My parents were the leaders in the anti-wizard war. They were the ones coming up with the weapons and plans for everything. My parents thought that I was a normal, non-magical daughter. But I was the one messing up their plans. I fed information to the Ministry of Magic, and they told the rest of the Wizarding world what I told them.

That's also the reason for the group gathering. My friends were magic also. All the Muggles thought we were planning and discussing plans for hunting wizards. After all, I am the Muggle leader's daughter. I wouldn't do such a thing as help the wizards escape.

My phone rang, snapping me out of my thoughts. The tune of Indiana Jones came on, and I smiled. Alex was one of my best friends. He and Aurelia were twins, but they couldn't be more different. Aurelia was the typical fifteen year old. She was a snappy, know-it-all, angry person. I learned the hard way to never hand her a flame thrower. Alex, on the other hand, was probably one of the nicest kids around. He was always lending a helping hand, and he was incredibly chivalrous. I was sure that he would have made Gryffindor if he had attended Hogwarts.

I picked up the phone. "Hey little bro!"

Alex laughed. "Hey big sis."

"Hey, we have a meeting tonight." I said, and I could see the school now.

He paused for a moment. "What kind?" He asked, his voice lower.

"Teaching and planning." I replied.

"Oh. Okay." I heard a noise in the background. "Aurelia wants you to pick us up."

I laughed. "I'm there." I said as I pulled into the school parking lot. "Where are you?"

"In front of the office." He said, and then I spotted them. Aurelia was sitting in the office, and Alex was lounging against the wall outside it. I sighed.

"What's Aurelia done now?" I asked.

"Apparently someone could have possibly insulted her in class today." Alex said, and even from this distance I could see him roll his eyes.

"Again?" I asked.

"Yeah, again."

At that moment, Aurelia walked out of the office and I pulled up. "How's that for timing?" I asked jokingly as the twins got in. Both of them rolled their eyes.

I checked the clock. We only had about fifteen minutes before Alex and I needed to be at the meeting. I turned to Aurelia.

"Alex and I have to go somewhere. I'm going to drop you off at home, and I need you to tell mom that we'll be home soon." I said quickly.

Aurelia rolled her eyes but nodded. I turned back around and started the car. "Alex, we need to bring some snacks, so we're going to run by the store really fast." I said.

Alex nodded. "What are we going to get?"

I smiled at him. "Brownies."

He laughed. "I should have known."

I got Aurelia home and the car in the store parking lot in record time. I narrowly missed a few tickets though. Fortunately a simple Freezing charm stopped the photo radar.

Alex had run into the store to buy the brownies. I was playing with my phone when "Holiday" came on. Naiomi was calling.

"Hey." I said.

"Nita? Nita? Is that you?" Naiomi asked, her voice loud like she was shouting.

"Yeah, it's me. What's going on?" I asked, concerned by her tone.

"Nita, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Naiomi said.

"Naiomi what are you talking about? What's going on?" I asked, my panic rising.

"I'm so sorry. I tried, but they – " her phone cut off.

Alex came back at that moment. My face was probably a mask of shock, because his face went from happy to concerned in a flash.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I don't know." I said truthfully, starting the car. "But we need to get to that meeting."

I peeled out of the parking lot and was driving as fast as possible to Mark's house, the place where we held our meetings.

As soon as we got there, I could tell something was wrong. You could usually hear laughter coming from the house, but there was hardly any noise.

I was out of the car and to the front door in seconds, Alex on my heels. I raised my hand to knock, but the door opened before I could.

Candle was standing there. Her face was a look of sadness and concern. "Hurry, come inside." She said, and then she moved away from the door.

Alex and I came in, and Alex shut the door behind us. "What's wrong?" He asked.

Candle looked at us sadly. "It's Naiomi. She's been caught."

* * *

Okay, so what did you think? Please review!! 20 reviews, and I post Chapter 2 in 1 hour. 15 reviews, and I post it later tonight. 10 reviews, and I post it tomorrow. 5 or less, I post next week. Also, please tell me if you want Cameo roles! I'm open for suggestions!


	2. Chapter 2

**

* * *

A/N: ok so I got so many reviews wanting me to post another chapter, I decided to be nice and allow another chapter. However, I will not post again until I get 20 reviews!!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. None of it. Absolutely nothing. However, for those of you who were wondering, the little bit in the last chapter that was in itallics is actually an excerpt from the novel I've been writing. Anyway, I don't own HP. I wish I did, but I dont. **

* * *

Chapter 2

I sat down on a chair, my mind in shock. Naiomi, one of our best, get captured by the Muggles?

"How?" I asked, looking around at the grim faces surrounding me.

"We don't know." Paul said, shrugging. "We think that the Muggles surprised her. That's the only thing that we can think of."

Andre looked at me. "Unless your parents thought of some weapon that they haven't told you about."

I thought hard about all the discussions that I've had recently. Neither one of my parents had even broached the subject of weapons. But that was abnormal for them. They always wanted to tell us how much work they've done.

I glanced at Alex, and I presumed that he was thinking the same thing. Our parents confided everything in Alex and I, because they thought that we were leading our own Anti-Wizard thing, and they wanted to help us out.

I turned back to Andre. "They haven't told us anything, but they've been unnaturally quiet. I'll ask them about it when the meeting's over."

Andre nodded. "That will work."

Abby walked into the room at that moment, followed by Chris, Mark, and Renee. Renee and Abby waved half-heartedly at me, while Chris and Mark barely inclined their heads. Apparently loosing Naiomi was as hard on them as it was on me. Naiomi was probably the best out of all of us.

When everyone had sat down, everyone got businesslike. If the Muggles had tricked information out of Naiomi, then everyone at this meeting was in jeopardy.

"So…what now?" Alex asked from his spot on the floor next to me. "I know that we're all in danger, but what do we do about it?"

Mark hesitated a moment, then said "We go into deeper hiding, of course. Drop off every radar."

"Wait, you mean, don't tell each other where we are going?" Abby asked, her eyes wide.

Mark nodded. "That way, if one of us is captured, then the rest won't be risked."

There was silence for a second, and then an explosion of comments.

"What about if we get – "

"We can't just leave each other-"

"There's the chance that – "

"How can we manage that, even if – "

"We can do something else –"

Mark held up his hands. "I know, I know, it sounds crazy. But I haven't finished." He waited while we calmed down. After we all shut our mouths, he held up coins. "These are our means of communication."

I looked at him skeptically. "That's the way that Dumbledore's Army contacted each other."

Mark grinned. "It worked, didn't it? They didn't get caught until that Malfoy kid figured out how to work the Room of Requirement." He flicked a coin to me. "Besides, I figured that you guys would prefer a coin rather than have it branded onto your forearm."

I grimaced. "You bet I wouldn't."

Alex looked at Mark blankly. "Dumbledore's Army? Room of Requirement? Branded into our forearm?" He turned to me. "What's all that about?"

I smiled a little. "I'll tell you later. It makes for a great adventure story. Of course, we'll have to be careful mom and dad don't hear."

Alex nodded, and then Mark flicked him a coin. "How do they work?" he asked.

"When you have to say something, it will appear on the coin like it was printed on it." Mark explained as he passed out the rest of the coins. "For example, if you were in trouble, then you'd hold your coin and think the words _I'm in trouble_, and then instead of E Pluris Unim, our coins will get hot and it will show up as _Alex is in trouble_."

Alex nodded. "Got it."

I glanced around the room, and everyone had grim faces. If we had to split up...I didn't want to think that through. This group was filled with my only friends. I wouldn't be able to help as many people without the support and ideas of my friends.

Andre leaned back. "So what are we going to do about Naiomi?"

We all thought for a moment. There were so many things that had to be done, and very little time to do them in.

"Well, even if we did manage to find her, there's that weapon that the Muggles surprised her with, and if we go in there, the Muggles will find out that we are magical." Chris said, breaking the silence.

I sat thinking. Was there a way to get in there without the Muggles noticing? If we were disguised as important Muggles…or actually _be_ Muggles.

"I have an idea." I said, standing up. Everyone had their eyes on me. "What if Alex and I walked in there? We are the kids of the leaders of this war, so it won't look suspicious if we want to see our 'enemy'." I made quotation marks in the air with my hands. "Then we can say that we are taking Naiomi to have tests done on her, and then she goes into hiding!"

There was a pause while everyone digested this. Then slowly, I could see a glimmer of hope in their eyes grow brighter until it was a fierce look.

"That's actually a brilliant idea." Renee said, jumping up as well.

"So when do we go?" Paul asked, grinning.

I smiled at them. "No time like the present!"

After everyone had gotten their things together and climbed in the various cars parked along the street, I noticed a little red sign in the bushes.

"What's that?" I asked, pointing it out to Mark, who was riding with Alex and I.

"Oh, that. That is a signal that the house is safe for us." Mark said, smiling. "Kind of like the Muggle Underground Railroad."

I shook my head and smiled. "When did you learn that?"

Mark shrugged. "I had to keep up the charade of a normal Muggle kid, so during the summers I studied the Muggle lessons."

I laughed. "You sound like you should have been in Ravenclaw, instead of Gryffindor."

Mark smiled. "Maybe."

My cell phone rang. The song "When September Ends" filled the car. I picked it up.

"Hey Chris." I said.

"Are you planning on going any time soon?" He asked teasingly.

"Alright, alright, I'm going." I grumbled.

I turned the car on and hang up at the same time. I saw Chris wave from his car, and I grinned back at him.

Then the song "Be My Girl" came out of my phone. I sighed, then picked it up.

"Hey Paul." I said, pulling out into the street.

"Do you know where we are going?" he asked, ignoring my greeting.

"I have a pretty good idea of where Naiomi might be." I said, making it out of the neighborhood and onto the main road.

"Good. We'll all follow you then." Paul said, and then he hung up.

I drove as quickly as I could (and that was still legal) to a building that looked like a normal business office. However, I knew it as the place where my dad worked as World War III leader.

Our caravan pulled into the parking lot, and we all parked right next to each other. We all got out and met at the front doors of the place.

"Look, it wouldn't make sense for us all to go in. Alex and I are the only ones they won't search. We'll just be in and out. Simple as that." I insisted.

Everyone seemed to disagree with this idea. Mark, Paul, and Andre seemed to just want to have an adventure, and Renee and Abby were hesitant to stay outside in the open.

"But if we go in with you, we'll be safe from now on. They won't expect you guys to hang out with the wizards." Andre said in a matter-of-fact tone.

I couldn't disagree with that logic. I considered it from all sides, and then finally gave in.

"Alright. But stay close to me, because if they think you're here by yourself, then you'll be in big trouble." I warned, and then I walked into the building.

The building was all white inside, like a hospital. It gave the feeling of trying to get rid of sickness. In a twisted way, that made a lot of sense with this whole mess. The Muggles were trying to rid the world of the sickness of wizards.

I walked up to the front desk, trying to look casual. I smiled at the receptionist, Susan, who I knew very well.

"Hey Su." I said cheerily.

"Hello Nita." She said, a note of surprise in her voice. "What brings you here?"

"I heard that you captured one of _them_." I said, dropping my voice conspiratorially.

Even more surprise on her face. "You heard that already? How?"

I shrugged. "I have my ways."

Susan nodded. "Of course. And your friends are with you?" She asked, glancing over my shoulder.

I nodded. "They're part of my group." I said. Everyone here knew that my friends and I had created a group. The one detail they got wrong was who's side we were on.

Susan smiled. "Okay. Go right in. It's in the cell on level 4."

I cringed at the way she described Naiomi. It. To hide my disgust, I smiled. "Thanks!" I said, and then turned abruptly from the desk.

I marched over to the elevators, and I felt my friends behind me. Once we all got in an elevator, I pressed the number 4 button, and up we went.

The doors opened to a level that looked more like a prison than a normal building. I shuddered. It was cruel to keep anything here, human or otherwise. There was only one door that I could see, so I assumed that the door led to the cell Naiomi was in.

I stepped out of the elevator, followed closely by my friends. "I'd say keep your wands out," I muttered to them under my breath, "but we would get caught."

I walked briskly to the door, and was startled to see that it was already open. I peered inside, and I saw that two men in white lab coats were standing over Naiomi. She was laying on the ground, her face full of fear.

Before things could get any worse, I knocked on the door, and walked in. The men in white lab coats had a startled look on their faces, while Naiomi's was full of fear. Her eyes seemed to question my sanity at coming here.

"Excuse me, but I need to take this…thing." I said, using the harsh word to describe my friend.

"Why?" One of the men asked. "Ma'am." He added as an afterthought.

"Because my father wishes to try something on her, something that can't be done here." I snapped at him. Sometimes I had to be nasty, and I hated it.

After a moment's pause, the men nodded. "Alright."

"Where's her weapon?" I asked fiercely.

"Right here." One of them said, pulling out Naiomi's wand.

I snatched it out of his hand. Once I pocketed the wand, I nodded to Chris and Mark, who stepped forward and gripped Naiomi by the tops of her arms. They helped her up, and her face showed even more fear for us.

I turned to the two men. "Thank you." I said, maybe a little too harshly. "I shall consider talking to my father about a raise for you."

I spun on my heel and marched out of the little cell. I could feel my friends behind me as I walked down the hallway and into the elevator. As soon as everyone was in, I shut the door and pressed the button for the first floor. Naiomi tried to talk, but I waved for her to be quiet until we were out of the building.

The elevator was slow, and I felt fidgety and like a dozen spotlights were on me. Instead of looking guilty, I squared my shoulders and stood up straighter. Once the elevator doors were open, I was walking briskly to the exits. I nodded in the direction of Susan, but I didn't make eye contact.

Once we were outside, I breathed a little easier. I glanced at my friends, and then took Naiomi's arm and put her in the back seat of my car. I made sure Alex and Mark were in the car, and then I started the engine.

I peeled out of the parking lot as fast as was inconspicuous. I glanced in the rear view mirror to make sure that my friends were following, and they were. I relaxed a little. I turned to Alex, who was sitting beside me in the front passenger seat.

"How's that for a little rescue mission?" I asked.

He grinned. "Brilliant."

I turned to Naiomi. "Are you okay?"

She looked at me like I was crazy. "What were you thinking? So many things could have gone wrong!"

I shrugged. "But they didn't, did they?" I glanced around the rest of the car. "I mean, we're all here in one piece."

Naiomi rolled her eyes, but didn't reply.

"Hey, did they get any information out of you?" Mark asked after a moment's pause.

"No, but they were about to when you walked in." Naiomi replied.

I relaxed a little further. That meant that we were safe. For now, anyway.

Naiomi glared at me in the rear view mirror. "So how am I going to live? You guys made it sound like I was going to a lab to undergo tests."

I thought about that for a moment. "You'll go into hiding." I decided. "We can say that you are going under extensive tests at an enclosed facility, and in reality you are living somewhere in Canada."

Naiomi thought it over. "Alright, that makes sense." But then she pointed a finger at me. "But you just put yourself and everyone else at risk. What if they want to have me back?"

I shrugged. "I'm the leader of this whole deal. Besides, they won't dare to ask me to have you back because of my parents."

Naiomi didn't seem to have any argument with that. Which was a good thing, because we were back at Mark's house.

As everyone got out of the car, I realized that we had passed several photo radar things, and if they ever needed to track us….

I jumped out of my car and shouted "Everyone! Inside, now!"

With confused glances, everyone trooped into the house. I ushered them all inside hurriedly, glancing guiltily up and down the street.

Once everyone was inside, I started pacing. If they found out about us…then we'd need to go into hiding. And if they had taken pictures of our license plates, then we could be tracked.

Everyone was looking at me curiously. I turned to face them, but my thoughts were a mess. If the government decided to start following our movements, then we had no hope of winning this war. We were in serious trouble.

Just as I opened my mouth, there was a knock at the door. I nearly jumped five feet in the air, it surprised me so much.

I glanced at Mark, and he nodded. I turned and opened the door. Standing there was a group of three people, two women and one man.

The man looked at me and said, "I am Josh. This is Liv and Aryn." He said, gesturing to the two women on either side of him. "Is this house safe from Muggles?"

* * *

So, how was it? Good, great, best? Tell me! Also, cameo roles are still up for grabs!


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own HP. Never have, never will. **

**Author's Note: Thank you very much to my friends for letting me put them in this story. And thanks to Aryn who became confused when we were discussing about dolls, Yule Balls, and S'mores. Ah, hours and hours of laughter. Good times. Good times. **

* * *

Chapter 3

I stared at Josh. Out of the blue, just as we thought we had gotten away with something, a group of wizards show up. I couldn't see their wands either, so I was even more cautious. I didn't believe that the Muggles would actually stoop to that.

To cover up my shock, I asked, "Do you know whose house this is?"

Josh nodded. "It belongs to Mark of Gryffindor."

In the back of my mind, the way he said it sounded weird, like he was thousands of years old. It struck me as odd, but then I brushed it aside. He didn't look so dangerous. However, I was still wary. What if they turned out to be Muggles?

I looked at Josh in the eye. "Show me your wand." I said, probably with more force than was necessary.

Josh never broke eye contact as he reached down with his left hand and pulled his wand out of his sock. Again, that struck me as odd. A wizard rarely has his wand so far away from his hand, and the only time he does is when the wand is taken away by force.

As Josh straightened, I saw that his clothes were ironed, flat, unwrinkled. Now I was getting nervous. Would runaway wizards have the time to iron their clothes? I doubted it. Even if they wanted to keep clean, why would they bother ironing them?

Josh handed me the wand, and I studied it. It honestly looked like a random stick someone picked up off the ground. It was all knobby and coarse, and slightly crooked. It looked nothing like any Ollivander wand I had ever seen.

I looked back at Josh. "What core is it?"

"Dragon heartstring." Josh replied almost before it was out of my mouth.

"And the wood?" I asked, examining the wand closer.

"Yew." He said, again almost before it was spoken.

I stared at him. I couldn't find anything other than the way he looked and talked wrong. Maybe he was from some foreign country, and another wandmaker had made his wand. That triggered another thought.

"Who made your wand?" I asked, inspecting his face.

"I have a friend that makes wands." He said, his face smooth.

"Uh-huh." I said, holding one hand behind my back and signaling with my hands that I didn't trust Josh.

I turned to the woman on Josh's right. She was about my height of 5'6", with long black hair. She was a little paler than her other two companions, and she had green eyes. I examined her clothes, and I was slightly startled to see that they were filthy and cut in several places. I could see the ridge in her sleeve that was the tell-tale sign of a wand. I felt a little bit better about her. I could trust her.

"What is your name?" I asked her.

"Aryn." She said, her eyes watching me warily.

I nodded. "Could you please show me your wand?"

She nodded slowly, and then pulled out her wand from her sleeve. It was smooth, flexible. I recognized instantly the work of Ollivander.

"It's core is unicorn hair, and the wood is maple." Aryn told me without me asking. "I got it at Ollivander's."

I nodded. I could recognize Ollivander's workmanship. It was well crafted. The wood was springy but hard, and it was perfect for charm work. I nodded again, and handed her wand back to her.

I signaled with my hand behind my back that I trusted Aryn, and I felt the tension in the room behind me lessen a little.

I turned to the woman on Josh's left. She was a little shorter than I was, with strawberry-blonde hair and hazel eyes. Like Aryn, her clothes were filthy and showed signs of wear. I saw the ridge in her sleeve that told me that she was carrying a wand.

Before I even asked, she had her wand out. "My name is Liv," she said, handing me the wand. "It's made of elm, and the core is phoenix feather. It's by Ollivander."

Again, I could recognize the work of Ollivander. He had quite a reputation. I signaled with my hand that I trusted Liv as well. Again, I felt the tension in the room behind me lessen more.

I felt someone get up and stand next to me, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw that it was Alex. He put his hand on my shoulder, and tapped his fingers in a specific rhythm. First his middle finger, then his pinky, then his index finger, then his thumb, and lastly his ring finger. It was another one of our codes. It meant that Mark said to invite them in.

I reached up and patted Alex's hand, to let him know I got the message. When I turned to look back at the newcomers, they all had slightly confused expressions. I smiled at them reassuringly.

"Would you like to come in?" I asked, stepping aside.

"Certainly." Josh said, and he walked in, followed by Liv and Aryn.

As soon as they were inside, I shut the door. When I turned around, Josh had this gleeful look on his face, while Liv and Aryn looked slightly nervous. The looks on my friends' faces matched Liv and Aryn's.

Mark was the first one to introduce himself. But he didn't use his real name.

"Hi. I'm William." Mark said, shaking Josh's hand.

Following Mark's lead, we went around the room, using fake names. We kept glancing at one another, trying to send messages with our eyes. The ones I got were all the same. _Be careful. They are strangers. We can't trust them yet. _

After all the introductions were done, we all stood around awkwardly. Josh kept looking super excited, and I made a mental note to have at least one pair of eyes on him at all times. I tapped Alex's arm, which was right next to me, in the pattern that told him my thoughts. He patted my arm, and then tapped Candle's arm, which was right next to him on his other side.

Liv's quick eyes noticed the tapping, and she smirked slightly. She looked like she was going to tell Josh, but then she stopped. Looks like she didn't trust Josh either. Instead, she stared at everyone in the room, holding their gaze.

After another minute or two, I cleared my throat. "Would you like to sit down?" I asked the newcomers, gesturing to the circle of chairs.

After a moment's hesitation, Liv and Aaron sat down. Josh however, stayed standing.

"Could I make a phone call?" he asked, pulling what looked like a cell phone out of his pocket.

I glanced at Mark, who nodded. I turned back to Josh. "Sure."

Josh nodded, and then walked into the kitchen and out of sight. I nudged Alex, and nodded in Josh's direction. He took the hint, and stealthily followed Josh out of the room.

Liv and Aryn watched Alex with amused expressions. After Josh and Alex were out of sight, they broke into wide grins.

"We are so glad to finally get rid of Josh." Liv said.

Aryn nodded. "He's been acting suspicious from day one. We just kept being around him to keep an eye on him."

I looked at Aryn sharply. "What do you mean by 'acting suspicious'?"

She thought a moment. "He never has done magic in front of us, and he always seems to have a new outfit."

Renee jumped up and started pacing the room. "The Ministry thinks that there are traitor wizards and witches. That would explain Naiomi getting captured. Traitors have been feeding information to the Muggles." She said while pacing.

There was a moment's silence. "But why haven't we been caught yet?" Andre asked.

"It's because of Alex and me." I said, leaning against the wall next to the door. "No one expects us to hang out with witches and wizards. If the traitors told the Muggles that we were hanging out with you guys, the Muggles would arrest the traitors and say that they were feeding them false information."

Paul nodded. "But I bet they have lots of information on us."

I sighed. "That's what I was thinking. We'll have to change cars regularly, or change the license plates, and park farther away from our destination. We should probably get new cell phones too."

Candle nodded. "Muggles are being very smart about this. They probably have the license plate numbers recorded, and the cell phones written down."

There was a silence, broken only by Mark's stomach growling.

I smirked. "Hungry Mark?"

He grinned and rubbed his stomach. "Hey, these rescue missions are hard work."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, sure. I did most of the hard work."

"How about a campfire?" Naiomi piped up. "That's the tradition to welcome newcomers."

Chris grinned. "You sure you want to continue after last time?"

I laughed. "That was your fault, not mine."

Aryn looked between Chris and me with a confused face. "What did he do?"

"Chris melted the food and nearly burned the yard." Andre said, leaning out of Chris' arm length.

As Aryn and Liv were laughing, Chris groaned. "You make it sound worse than it was."

Paul snorted. "Yeah. Like you didn't actually burn the grass and make the trees look like toothpicks."

I laughed again. "He tried to make dinner 'special'." I said, making the quotation marks in the air with my hand.

At that moment, Alex came in the room, and then was followed a moment later by Josh. Josh had this triumphant look on his face, and Alex looked slightly nervous and confused. Alex came to stand by me, and Josh went to stand against the opposite wall.

Chris and Andre were still arguing about the outcome of the last campfire, and they were almost at blows. I sighed, then pulled out my wand and cast a Protection Charm between them.

Almost immediately, they turned to me and glared. "What?" I asked in an innocent tone.

Before they could complain about the shield, Liv asked, "How come you guys can do magic when you aren't seventeen?"

I turned to her. "The Ministry decided that because of this war, witches and wizards of all ages were allowed to use magic, because there are so many circumstances where magic would be required. Apparently, it would be too much work."

Mark picked up a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ and tossed it to Liv. "It says it all in there." He said as she caught it.

She nodded, and then she and Aryn started pouring over it.

"So when should we have the campfire?" Naiomi asked, crossing her legs.

I shrugged. "Now is fine. But I have to call my mom and tell her that Alex and I will be home later than we thought."

Andre's eyes lit up. "Did you bring the brownies?" He asked eagerly.

Everyone laughed except for Liv and Aryn, who were ignoring us and reading the paper. Andre had an innocent look on his face, but his eyes were full of laughter.

"Yeah, they are in the car." Alex said. "I'll go get them before Andre starves." He walked to the door and said, "Don't do anything interesting while I'm gone." Then he was out the door.

I smirked. "Yeah. Like a day with you guys isn't interesting."

Candle nodded. "Never a dull moment."

Renee laughed. "At least we're never bored."

Alex walked back in, and tossed the brownies at Andre. "Here. Hope you don't starve."

Andre glared at Alex, and then dug into the brownies, getting them all over his face.

Paul rolled his eyes. "Don't you want room to have s'mores?"

Aryn looked up from the paper. "S'mores? What about them?"

Marked grinned. "Only that they are the best with milk."

Aryn stuck her tongue out at him. "No, they are the best with peanut butter."

"Milk."

"Peanut butter."

"Milk."

"Peanut butter."

I sighed and turned to the others, Aryn and Mark still arguing in the background. "Did you guys hear that this year is the Yule Ball at school?" I asked.

Candle gasped. "Really?"

I nodded. "McGonagall told me last year."

Renee squealed. "This will be so much fun!"

Mark snorted, apparently interested in our conversation. "Yeah, dressing them up. Great."

Aryn had a confused look on her face. "Dressing up our s'mores for the Yule Ball?"

I burst into laughter, doubling over. I don't know what made me laugh so hard, maybe the tone she said it in, or maybe the look on her face, but I was doubled over in laughter. I heard everyone laughing around me too. When I looked back at Aryn, her face was even more confused.

"What did I do?" She asked, looking at all of us.

I looked at everyone else, and their faces were all red. I guessed that mine was too. Looking at each other made us laugh harder. I fell to the floor, I was laughing so hard. I heard several other thuds, and I gathered that others must have fallen to the floor.

It took about twenty minutes for us all to calm down. Every time we looked at each other, we would burst into more laughter.

"What color should I dress mine in?" Mark snickered.

"I'm thinking about pink for mine, what do you think?" Renee giggled.

"Ooh, will blue look good on it?" Candle laughed.

Aryn was still looking at us in confusion. Her face was somewhat red, and her voice had risen in pitch the longer we laughed. "What's so funny?" she asked again.

I finally calmed myself enough to answer, "Just the idea of dressing up s'mores for the Yule Ball."

A look of understanding dawned on her face, and then she blushed. "I wasn't trying to be funny."

I giggled. "So? You achieved it."

Alex was still on the floor. "So what now?" he asked, sitting upright.

I thought about that for a moment, and then glanced at my watch. I was surprised that it was only about eight.

"Well, I guess we could have a campfire, but I'm sure we don't want to risk Chris burning down the place." Mark said, leaning against the wall.

Chris rolled his eyes. "It was an accident." He insisted.

Paul snorted, but didn't make a comment. But his thoughts were written across his face.

Josh was typing on his phone, probably texting. I was able to glance over his shoulder, and I saw that he was conversing with Professor McGonagall.

I stared at him in shock. How in the world could he be talking to Professor McGonagall? He was supposed to be a traitor, for crying out loud!

He glanced up at me, and saw my face. "What?" he asked, a little self conscious.

"I – you – Professor – traitor – how?" I stuttered.

He laughed. "I'm acting as a spy for the Muggles, but I'm actually a double-spy. It was Professor McGonagall's idea."

I looked at him skeptically. "How do we know for sure that you aren't just a spy for the Muggles?"

He thought about that for a minute. "Well, the fact that I'm talking to Professor McGonagall should be enough, but I came here to warn you about one of your own."

I narrowed my eyes. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that one of your own is the traitor." Josh said slowly, glancing around the room.

I stared at him in shock. Would he really accuse someone here of being a traitor? Around me, I heard nervous laughter, and I recognized it as Naiomi's. But everyone else was dead silent.

"Who?" Paul asked, glancing around the room.

Josh studied everyone, probably trying to guess if we would rip his head off when he told us. I kept my gaze locked on his, and I hardly blinked. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched everyone else. They all had similar looks of shock and irritation.

Finally, Josh said "The traitor is Naiomi."

There was a pause, but then there was an explosion of shouts.

"No way!"

"You're lying!"

"Naiomi, a traitor? Impossible!"

"You're the traitor, not Naiomi!"

Josh took the yells in silence. He watched us with a calm expression, like this had happened before. It occurred to me, in the back of my mind, that this probably _had_ happened before.

"What about your wand? It looks like a stick you picked up off the ground." I accused him.

"I showed you the Muggle version of my wand. There are Muggles watching this house, and they couldn't see my actual wand or else I'd be in trouble." Josh said, while at the same time digging something out from his pocket. He pulled something out, and I realized that it was a wand. An actual wand. I recognized Ollivander's work.

I glanced around, and I could see everyone staring at Josh's wand. They weren't yelling anymore, and I could see the gears turning in their heads.

"Okay, I see that your wand is an Ollivander wand." I said, my tone a little less skeptic. "But how can we be sure that Naiomi is the traitor?"

Josh looked at Naiomi. Naiomi was bright red and fidgeting with her shirt. My mind realized that Naiomi's capture might not have been a capture. It would have been the perfect opportunity to expose our group.

I stared at her. "Why?" I asked.

She looked at me apologetically. "I'm sorry. But they threatened my family. I couldn't do anything else."

I looked at her coldly. "You could have died for us. What happened to the Gryffindor I knew? A Gryffindor wouldn't have hesitated to die for her friends."

She seemed to wither under my look. "I'm sorry. But what's the difference? I mean, they'll just take you to a holding facility until this war is over."

"The difference between bravery and cowardice, Naiomi. The difference between Gryffindor and Slytherin." I told her. "Did you really think that they were just going to hold us? They'll kill us. They want no more witches and wizards in the world."

Naiomi looked stricken. "I'm sorry." She said.

"Apology not accepted." Paul snapped.

I looked back at Josh. "How long do we have before the Muggles show up?"

He looked down at his watch. "I was told that they would come tomorrow." He said.

"I didn't tell them about you, Nita. They don't know that you are a witch." Naiomi said, her voice coated with sadness.

I stared at her. "Do you really think that I'll believe you now?"

Her face fell a little. "Please. I swear that I didn't tell them. They have no idea."

I nodded slowly, but I didn't press that any further. I turned back to Josh.

"We should get out of here. Go into hiding. We were already planning on it." I said, ignoring the whimpers of Naiomi.

Josh nodded. "We should send you to different parts of the country, far enough that no one will connect you together."

I stood up and paced the room. "We should go in pairs though, so it's not so suspicious."

"Yeah, that will be best. That way we have people looking out for each other." Andre said, twirling his wand in his hands.

"Okay, the pairs will be Candle and Chris, Paul and Renee, and Mark and Andre." I said, pacing faster. Because I was the leader, no one opposed to this idea.

I looked at Josh. "Are you and your friends staying with us?"

We both looked at Liv and Aryn. They were watching us all with looks of pity.

"I think…I think that we'll go on our own. That will be safer. You guys are known fugitives now – " he threw a glance at Naiomi. "Now that you are known fugitives, we'll be safer if we go separate ways."

I nodded. I was expecting that. "Of course. I wouldn't expect you to risk yourselves for us." I dug the car keys out of my pocket and tossed them to Josh, who caught them. "Here. There's your getaway vehicle."

He looked surprised. "But what about your family?"

I shrugged. "Dad's in a position right now to get another car. Besides, I can tell them that you all are going on a trip and needed the car."

Josh had a thankful look in his eyes. He turned to Liv and Aryn. "Time to go." He said.

Liv and Aryn got up, and they shook hands with everyone. When they got to me, they had sympathetic looks.

At the door, Josh paused. "Thank you." He said, twirling the car keys on his finger.

I nodded. "No problem. Thank you for telling us about Naiomi." I replied.

"No problem." Josh said. "Well, see you around." And he turned around and walked out the door, followed by Liv and Aryn.

I turned back to my friends. "You guys heard the groups. Start packing. You can leave on the morning of my birthday, and you can just hide out until then. I'll get the plane tickets and everything you'll need."

They all nodded and got up. "Mark, I'd like you to keep an eye on Naiomi until you leave." I added.

Mark nodded, and then went to stand next to Naiomi. Her eyes were full of sorrow.

"Please don't tell them our plans." I begged her. "We need to get away."

She nodded. "Of course. I've done enough damage already."

I turned back to the group. "Hurry and get packed. We should vacate our houses immediately."

Once the group had left, I walked home with Alex. He was tense and unnaturally quiet. He kept jumping at every sound, gripping my arm tighter. I understood how he felt. We had trusted Naiomi, had confided in her, and yet she betrayed us. I felt like that I couldn't trust anybody.

"What are you thinking?" Alex asked.

I shrugged. "That I feel like that I can't trust anybody, that we need to keep our friends safe, where to put my school things where the Muggles won't find them."

Even though it was super dark, I could see Alex nod. "I was thinking the same things. Except for the school part, of course."

"Yeah."

There was silence for a few moments. One of the best things about Alex is that he doesn't press you. He leaves you alone with your thoughts without interrupting. He also keeps his thoughts to himself unless he thinks it's necessary to comment. That really helps when I have problems with the war.

"You could hide your school things in the basement of the school. No one ever goes down there, not even the janitors." Alex suggested.

"Thanks Alex. That's a good idea."

He patted my arm. "You're welcome."

We continued walking in silence. We were about halfway home, but I didn't hurry. Alex seemed to want to take things easy, so I followed his lead. We were so close that I could understand his thoughts like they were written across his face. I told him everything, and he told me everything.

"What's the D.A.?" Alex asked suddenly.

I smiled. The D.A. had been one of the best things at Hogwarts. "During my third year at Hogwarts, the Ministry of Magic was afraid of Voldemort. They didn't want him to come back, and they called those who said he was back a liar. Harry Potter had witnessed Voldemort come back, had fought him, and had survived yet again."

"Harry Potter? He's at the center of almost everything." Alex interrupted.

I laughed. "Yeah. Well, if you were targeted by the most evil wizard in history, who just wouldn't die, you'd be at the center of the stories."

Alex nodded. "Right. Go on."

"Well, Albus Dumbledore knew Harry was telling the truth. He took action to start a resistance against Voldemort. The Order of the Phoenix, which was filled with the most talented witches and wizards of the age, was a standard of hope. But the Minister decided to interfere at Hogwarts. He sent Dolores Umbridge to Hogwarts to 'keep an eye on things'." I said, making quotation marks in the air with my hands.

Alex shuddered. "Even her names sounds evil."

I nodded. "Yeah, it does. Anyway, Dolores started making Educational Decrees. They were more like limitations, really. No more than three students in a group, boys have to stay at least a foot away from girls, groups will have to be approved by her, and so on. Most of all, she didn't teach them Defense Against the Dark Arts. She refused to believe that they should be taught anything. When Harry Potter insisted that Voldemort was back, she made him write 'I must not tell lies' in his own blood."

Alex cringed. "How evil can someone get?"

"Oh, believe me, Voldemort was much worse. But anyway, the Ministry believed that Dumbledore was creating an army to rise against the Ministry. So, they refused to teach the students anything. Now, Harry knew that it was only a matter of time before Voldemort decided to come out in the open. He knew that the students had to be prepared to fight Death Eaters, Voldemort's followers. His friends, Ron Weasly and Hermione Granger convinced him to teach the other students Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Alex stopped. "Wait. You are saying that the Ministry, the group that is supposed to protect the people, refused to believe and take action against the most dangerous wizard ever, leaving the responsibility to a fifteen year old?"

I nodded. "Yep. And it wasn't just for the one year. Harry got a group of kids together and formed a group. They named themselves Dumbledore's Army, because that's what the Ministry was afraid of, and Voldemort had never picked a fight with Dumbledore. They communicated with wizard coins, the same way that Mark decided to use. They were so secret about it, the meetings were able to be held for months. Harry taught the students how to Disarm, Stun, cast Patronuses, and much more. Eventually, Dumbledore's Army was caught, but not before many of the students had learned things necessary for them to survive. In years to come, Dumbledore's Army was much like the Order of the Phoenix. They were the symbol of right and hope."

Alex was silent for a long time. "And what about the branding into the forearm?"

I grimaced. "That's what Voldemort did to his followers. He branded the Dark Mark into their forearm, and they had but to touch it to summon him, or he had to touch his for them to come to him."

Alex grimaced too. "Okay, I think I prefer the coins."

I laughed. "Yeah, me too."

We were almost home now. Alex was deep in thought again, and I was just enjoying the cool night air. It would probably be a while before my life would be this peaceful.

"Were you part of Dumbledore's Army?" Alex asked.

"Yeah. I was. That's where I met Mark, Renee, and Andre." I said, walking up the driveway to our home.

Alex nodded, but didn't talk about it any further. We were too close to Muggles to talk about it.

I opened the front door, and found that Aurelia must have decided to re-do her room, because her things were strewn across the stairs and hallway. I could barely see any floor.

"Mom, we're home." I called, picking my way across the mess.

"You're home early." Mom said as she appeared in the kitchen door. I could smell cookies, and my mouth started watering.

"Yeah. Everyone said that they had everything under control, so I left. Well, more like they kicked us out." I told Mom. "What's Aurelia doing?"

Mom rolled her eyes. "Apparently she needed to 'de-clutter'."

Alex and I laughed, and Aurelia's head popped out of her room. She stuck her tongue out at me, and then disappeared back into her room.

I looked back at Mom. "I'm going to bed. My friends told me that they were moving, or going on a long trip. I need to help them pack and move tomorrow." I headed up the second flight of stairs. "Oh, and I gave a few of them the mini van." I added.

I heard Alex say goodnight to Mom as well and follow me up the stairs. At my door, I we stopped and preformed our secret handshake. It was our tradition to do that right before bed.

"See you in the morning." I told him.

"See you." He replied, and then he turned and went into his bedroom.

I walked into my bedroom and shut the door behind me. I hesitated a moment, then pulled out my wand and pointed it at the door. I muttered "Muffliato" under my breath, and then dove under my bed. There was a loose floorboard there, where I kept my school things.

I pulled out my school books and robes, and then chose a backpack from my closet. I stuffed everything from under the floorboard into it, and then zipped it up. I was ready for the morning. I looked around the room, and then decided to put in a spare set of Muggle clothing, and my ID.

Once I had everything, I set the bag at the foot of my bed. I set the alarm for 6 A.M., and then got into bed. As an afterthought, I ended the Muffliato curse on the door and fell asleep.

* * *

**What did you guys think? Was it good, boring, great, too long? Please review! And again, thanks so much to Aryn for the Yule Ball and S'mores! Also, cameo roles, still available!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Oooh I am so sorry I haven't updated in a long time!! My computer freaked out right before I finished chapter 4, so it deleted all 24 pages of it. This is an excerpt from chapter 4 that I actually remember. Again, super sorry that I didn't update!!**

* * *

I kicked down the door, the smoke starting to make my breathing harsh. I peered through the haze of flames and smoke, and I saw a body lying on the floor. I didn't stop to register who it was. I just grabbed their arms and dragged them back the way I had come. I kept their head above the ground as I kicked away flaming debris.

I could hear the house groaning under the flames. I knew that I only had minutes left before the whole thing collapsed. I decided then to try and carry the person, instead of dragging them. As I lifted the limp body into my arms, I could see the open door. I ran to it, but before I could get to the door, a flaming beam fell down, blocking the way.

I spun, looking wildly for another exit. I could see a part of the wall where almost all of the wood and drywall was burnt away. I hurried over to it, my breathing ragged. I shifted the person in my arms, and kicked away the remaining wall. The wall practically fell apart the moment my foot made contact with it. Within seconds, there was an opening large enough for me to get through.

I squeezed myself through, and then I could breathe again. My lungs welcomed the clean air, but they still felt like they had rocks in them. I looked around, and spotted the rest of the limp forms that I had rescued.

I ran over to them, ignoring the flashing lights of the fire trucks and the shouts of bystanders. I set the person in my arms down, and then straightened up. I stumbled a little, my tired legs protesting. I sank to the ground, and then blacked out.


	5. Chapter 4 and 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Even though I wish it with all my heart, I don't. It belongs to J.K.R. **

**A/N: This chapter needed some serious inspiration, so I listened to music. Here is the list of songs, and then you can read the chapter and see where each song fits. **

**Only Time by Enya**

**If I Lay Here by Snow Patrol**

**How to Save a Life by The Fray**

**For Good from the play Wicked**

**Citizen Soldiers by 3 Doors Down**

**Rock Star from the movie Shrek**

**Across the Stars from the movie Star Wars II**

**Where You Are by Josh Groban**

**Edelweiss from the Sound of Music**

**You'll Be In My Heart by Phil Collins from the movie Tarzan**

**Go the Distance from the movie Hercules**

**Bella's Lullaby from the movie Twilight**

**To Where You Are by Josh Groban**

**Beautiful Day by U2**

**Remember Me from the movie Troy, sung by Josh Groban**

**If I Didn't Have You from the movie Monsters Inc.**

**World Trade Center music written by Craig Armstrong**

**Adiemus from Lord of the Rings, sung by Enya**

**Kryptonite by 3 Doors Down**

**And, of course, the Harry Potter theme. **

**Okay, now on to chapter 4!**

Chapter 4

My alarm went off with an obnoxious buzzing noise, and I had to keep myself from throwing the thing across the room. After a minute or two of the insanity-causing noise, I rolled out of bed and turned the thing off. I stretched. My joints popped, and I decided to do a few jumping jacks to loosen myself more.

I got dressed in jeans and a blue T-shirt, making sure that my wand was safely stowed away in my pocket. As an afterthought, I tied a sweater around my waist. Now I looked like a normal Muggle. When I glanced in the mirror, I decided that my dirty blond hair would look best in a ponytail today. As I put it up, there was a knock on my door.

I pulled it open, and Alex was standing there, a grin on his face and a backpack slung over his shoulder. "Ready?" He asked.

I nodded, and then grabbed the backpack from the foot of my bed. "Yep. Let's go."

He grinned, then preformed our handshake with me. As we left my room, he said to me, "Abby said she was coming over. She sounded more excited than usual."

I shook my head. "Is that even possible?"

Alex shrugged. "Apparently. She said that she was going to invite herself in."

"Oh, great. A loose witch in our house and it's not even seven in the morning." I groaned as we trooped down the stairs.

"I heard that!" Abby's voice came from the kitchen. The scent of eggs and bacon reached my nose, and my stomach growled. I hurried forward, nearly tripping on Alex's ankles. After a hurried apology, I sprinted into the kitchen and nearly tackled Abby.

"Hi!" I said cheerily, edging towards the pan of eggs.

"Oh no, you don't!" Abby said, swatting me away with a spatula. "This is breakfast. If you eat earlier than anyone else, you don't get any."

"Aww, come on. I'm hungry!" I said, and my stomach grumbled, accenting my comment nicely.

"Nope. No food before I serve it." She said as she picked a bite out of the pan and popped it in her mouth.

I narrowed my eyes. "I thought you said no food before you serve it."

Abby shrugged. "I'm the cook. I have to taste test it."

"Can I be a second opinion taster?" I suggested, inching again towards the pan.

She sighed. "Fine. One bite. Only one bite!" She said as my eyes lit up.

I picked at the pan, and then put a piece of bacon in my mouth. "Ow! Hot, hot!" I wailed as I waved my hand in front of my mouth.

Abby rolled her eyes. "Of course it's hot. What do you think cooked it, electricity?"

Alex walked over to us. "Actually Abby, the stove is electricity turned into heat."

"Oh, whatever." Abby said, as she turned back to the pan.

"So, why are you here?" I asked.

"Mark found something, and wanted to show you guys."

"So you are the messenger?"

"And guide. You can only get there if someone shows you." Abby scraped the eggs and bacon onto three plates, and then handed one to Alex and I.

"So, when do we start?" I asked.

"As soon as possible." Abby said, digging a fork out of the dishwasher.

"Where are you going?" My dad asked as he walked into the kitchen.

We all jumped. "Hey Dad." Alex said.

"My friends found something and wanted to show Alex and me." I explained to him.

Dad nodded and then dug in the pantry for some cold cereal. "Are you and Alex going on your yearly trip?"

I glanced at Alex. We usually had yearly trips to national monuments and museums, but we had canceled our last few because of the war. He gave me a barely perceptible nod.

"Yeah, we are." I told Dad. "We are going to my school. Alex has always wanted to see it."

Dad looked back at us. "Going to school in the middle of summer? Isn't that a little break in tradition?"

I shrugged. "School at my school is so much fun; it can hardly count as school."

Dad nodded. "So when are you going?"

"Today, and tomorrow." I told him.

"Really? Tomorrow? But that's your birthday." Dad said his brow furrowing.

I nodded. "Yeah. We'll be back around noon tomorrow."

"Okay. Just be back before your mom goes insane. It's your seventeenth birthday, and your mom wants to host a big party."

"Yeah, okay." I said.

"Oh, hey Abby." Dad said, for the first time realizing that Abby was there.

"Hello." Abby had cleaned her plate while we were talking.

"Holy crow Abby, you ate that all in less than five minutes?" Alex asked her in wonder.

She shrugged. "Andre taught me a few things. Besides, we have a very tight schedule to keep."

"What time to we have to go?" I asked, starting to eat.

She glanced at the clock on the stove. "Now would be great, but we can wait five minutes."

I started eating faster. It never worked out to be late to Wizarding things. Alex was already almost done. Dad was just watching us wolf down our food in amusement.

"Are you coming back to pack, or do you have everything with you?" Dad asked when I finished my food.

I shook my head. "We have everything. My school is sending someone to come pick us up at the train station."

Dad nodded. "Okay. See you later then."

"See you!" I called cheerily, and then walked out the back door. I could hear Abby and Alex saying goodbye to Dad behind me. As soon as the back door shut, Abby grabbed my hand and pulled me towards a grove of trees near our house.

"Abby, where are we going?" I asked.

"You'll see. Alex, grab Nita's hands, and don't let go, whatever you do." She instructed.

Alex nodded, and held my hand as we entered the trees. As soon as we were out of eyesight of the house, Abby twisted on the spot. I was suddenly cast into the dark, my chest compressing.

When I could breathe again, I realized that we were in a forest. The trees were draped in moss, and there was fog swirling around us. Alex was still gripping my hand like there was no tomorrow, and Abby was walking away from us.

I took my hand out of Alex's death grasp and hurried after Abby. I knew Alex would catch up, but it was so quiet that I had to glance over my shoulder and check. I jumped about a mile when I saw that he was right behind me, close enough that if I stood just a little taller, his chin would hit the top of my head.

"Sheesh." I complained. "Can't you give a girl a warning before you go all stalker like?"

He grinned. "Sorry. It's my reflexes kicking in. The moss is kind of creepy."

I glanced around. He was right. The moss hung off the trees in a shiver-down-your-spine kind of way. They looked like fingers. And the fog didn't help either. The fog gave the forest an even creepier feel.

I nodded, then hurried to catch up with Abby, who had paused up ahead. When I caught up to her, she looked at me oddly.

"Your dad is awesome. Did you know that?" She asked.

I was a little confused by her question. "Yeah, I know he's awesome. Why the question?"

She sighed. "Not many parents would let you go off on your own with barely a warning."

I thought about that. "Yeah, I guess you're right. But I still don't get why you asked."

She continued walking. "I had to tell them that I hated them and that I was running away. They think I'm on the opposite side of the world right now."

I was silent for a few moments. "I'm so sorry Abby." I said after I found my voice.

She shrugged. "It's okay. We need to win this war, and the only way for me to help is to have my parents totally forget me."

We continued walking for a few more minutes. Abby seemed to be following a path, but I couldn't tell if it actually was one. The fog swirled so heavily around my feet that I could hardly see them.

After a minute, Alex started whistling a cheery song. After a few bars, I glanced back at him. "Really? Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious?"

He grinned. "I was wondering if you were going to catch that."

I eyed him. "You don't need to impress anyone right now." Then I glanced to the trees. "Unless you find a certain tree here attractive."

Abby's laugh echoed through the trees, and Alex's face turned a slight shade of red. "That's not why I was whistling it."

"Then why?"

He grinned. "I set Aurelia's alarm song to it."

I laughed. "That's going to be fun. Did you set up a video camera?"

He nodded. "Yep. It's going to capture her every move."

I laughed again. "You know, if I didn't know better, I could have sworn you were born just to annoy Aurelia."

He smiled. "Thanks. I'm doing my job rather well then?"

I nodded. "Yeah you are. She's going to be furious with you."

Abby called over her shoulder. "Come and look. You'll be able to see it now that the fog has cleared away some."

Alex and I exchanged a quick glance, then walked up and stood on either side of Abby. I could see a valley of green trees, with streams running through them, and fog swirling around the tops of the trees. But that didn't really catch my eye. What actually caught them was a huge tree at the base of the hill where we stood.

Now, when I say a huge, whatever you picture isn't big enough. It was so tall that the highest branches were taller than the trees on the hill. At first I had thought that it was just other trees. This thing was massive. The trunk was at least half a mile wide. The branches were thicker than Abby, Alex and I put together. It was so tall that it blocked out some of the sun. There were big patches of ground with only brush on them, because there wasn't enough sunlight to grow trees.

"Wow." I said quietly.

"Yeah, I know." Abby said. She then turned and followed a path that headed for the giant tree.

I hurried to keep up, and I could feel Alex behind me. I kept shooting glances at the tree, which kept getting harder because it was so tall. I quickly gave up with that.

The roots of the tree were incredible. They had formed a sort of staircase leading to the tree. And they weren't tiny roots, the kind you see on normal trees. These things were massive. Easily bigger than me. Alex and I kept tripping over them, but Abby climbed over nimbly. I peered at the trunk of the tree, and realized that there was a door-shaped cut in the bark. It was barely visible, and I had the best eyesight. I had a sudden thought.

"Abby, this is a fort, isn't it?" I asked.

She turned back to look at me. "Yeah, it is. But not just any regular old fort. It is extremely defendable, but the best part is that nothing evil can come within a mile radius of here. It keeps out anything the inhabitants of the fort don't want near."

"So it's like a Room of Requirement?"

She nodded, and kept going. "It's almost exactly like the Room of Requirement. It's just in a circular form, and inside a tree."

As we climbed the staircase, I thought about how many times I had wished for a base like this. It sounded perfect. If we had ever needed an impenetrable fort, this was the time. What shocked me the most though, was that no one else seemed to know that the place was here.

"Abby, where are we?" I asked.

"Somewhere in South America, I think." She replied. "But that's only for today. I'm not sure where it will be tomorrow."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked.

"This place changes locations. It finds the largest trees in the world, and then rotates through them. We are never in the same place for more than a day or so." Abby explained as she got to the top of the steps.

"So how do you find it again if it keeps moving?" I asked, reaching the top stair.

"You just think that you want to come to the base, and then you'll come out wherever it is." Abby said, taking out her wand and tapping the bark of the tree with it.

When she tapped the wood, a door opened in the wood, swinging outward on invisible hinges. Abby stepped back from the tree and said, "Well, welcome to the tree fort!"

I peered inside. The first thing that met my eyes was a spiral staircase leading upwards several floors. The walls curved, and so I assumed that the entire tree was being used. Which meant that just one floor could house everyone in our neighborhood.

"Abby, this place is huge." I said as I stepped in.

"Yeah. That's why we are using it as headquarters for the war. The Ministry has approved this place as the headquarters. Of course," her face pulled into a scowl, "now that they have publicly announced this place, it kind of defeats the meaning of the word secret."

Alex walked in after me and whistled. "Wow. This is one heck of a base."

"And you haven't even seen the rest of it." Abby said as she lead the way around. "Everyone is in the planning room."

She lead Alex and I into a room that was huge. It gave me a strong impression of the Great Hall in Hogwarts. There were long tables, stretching the length of the room, and a high ceiling. The rafters were hung with lanterns that glowed a bright orange color. The floor was swirling patterns, like clouds.

The group was standing at the opposite end of the room, bending over papers and maps. They all looked up at us when we walked in, and smiled.

"Hi." They chorused.

"Hi!" I called cheerily to them, and walked over, examining the papers.

"These are lists of all the muggleborns in our area." Paul said, gesturing to the papers. "We are trying to decide if they need to move to another area or not."

I examined the list, and recognized a few of the names. Perkins, Morgan, Christiansen, and Yarbrough were the ones that I recognized. I was amazed at how many muggleborns lived in our area. I looked up at my friends.

"They'll all need to move here. We can't risk their exposure." I said firmly.

They nodded. "We'll need to stagger their moves, because if they all move at once it will look suspicious." I added.

"Right." Mark said, putting his hands together. "When should we start moving them?"

I thought a moment. "The sooner, the better. The muggles have been alerted to our presence in the area, so they will be searching for us."

Everyone nodded again. "So, who do we think is the most at risk?" Renee asked.

I looked at the map. There were red X's over the houses where the muggleborns lived. "Let's evacuate the ones closest to Mark's house. They will be looking for people there."

"Okay." Candle said, moving closer to me. "But shouldn't we move our families?"

That made me think. "Well," I said, tapping my hands on the table, "I think that we should break off all contact with our families. That's the best way to protect them. I don't think that they suspect the rest of our families, but if they move with us, it will tell them that they know."

"We should also perform memory charms." Andre suggested. "We don't know how far the muggles are willing to go to get information."

I nodded. "Right, we should. It will make them safer."

Abby grabbed my arm. "Okay, now that we've got that settled, I want to give Nita the grand tour."

Mark smiled. "Alright. Just don't kill her, okay? I doubt her parents will take kindly to us if we do that."

Abby rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't do such a thing!"

Andre snorted. "Uh-huh. Sure."

Abby stuck her tongue out at him, then spun on her heel and dragged me out of the room. She didn't stop dragging me until we were at the stairs. She let me walk properly, but didn't let go of my hand.

"The tree is made for about a thousand people to stay here." Abby explained. "There are several bathrooms, kitchens, everything we might need. There's even a library bigger than the one at Hogwarts." At these words, she grinned.

I raised my eyebrows. "Bigger than the one at Hogwarts?"

"Bigger."

"I'm guessing that it includes the Restricted section." I said, thinking about how many times I had tried to get into that area at Hogwarts.

"Yeah, it does. Andre was clever enough to ask the tree for it." Abby said.

"Wow. Andre actually thought it up?"

"Shockingly enough, yes." Abby said, smirking.

"I heard that!" Andre's distant voice came floating up to us.

Abby and I giggled and hurried up the stairs. We didn't stop on the first four levels, because Abby said that they were all bedrooms. She kept pulling me up, and let me glance at the fifth level.

The fifth level was a training room. The shelves were lined with books on jinxes and hexes, and there were piles of cushions, and even wooden dummies. It reminded me of the room we had used for D.A. meetings.

After a quick glance at the library (Abby laughed when I nearly passed out at the sheer size of the library), she pulled me to the seventh floor. There was only one door on it, and the entire floor was dimly lit.

After a quick glance at Abby, who nodded, I went and opened the door. What I saw make my heart wrench.

The room was a long hall, with blue carpet running down the middle of it. There was blue light, barely enough to see. There was music playing in the background. It was mysterious, but calm and sad at the same time. There were spots of light on the ceiling, like little stars. On the walls were photos, and plaques underneath the pictures.

I moved closer to the first picture, and my heart moved up into my throat. It was a picture of Colin Creevy, one of my dearest friends. In the photo, he was smiling and waving, with one arm around his brother, and his brother's arm around me. I was smiling and waving with them too.

I looked at the plaque below the picture, and my eyes got wet.

_**Colin Creevy**_

_**Colin was an excellent student. He was kind, loving, helpful, and brave. He had a little brother, Dennis, whom he loved very much. Colin couldn't be seen without his camera. He was always taking pictures, and he captured the rare happy moments while Voldemort was in power. **_

_**Colin was killed as he protected a friend during the Battle of Hogwarts. He had snuck back to fight, and when he saw his friend in trouble, he rushed to help. Three Death Eaters cornered him and his friend. His friend was seriously injured, and so he forced her to stay down. One of the Death Eater's curses hit Colin in the chest as he stood over his friend. **_

_**Colin was a true Gryffindor. He helped his friends, stood for what was right, and sacrificed himself for a cause that he knew was right. Remember him. Remember the cause for which he fought. Remember Colin Creevy. **_

Tears were pouring over my face. Colin had been one of my best friends. In fact, I was the friend he had died to protect. I had snuck back too, hoping to help. I had been injured by one of Hagrid's giant spiders, and Death Eaters seemed to sense that I was a threat. They cornered me, and then Colin had come out of nowhere, shooting curses at everything he knew was bad. Suddenly, a Death Eater's curse hit me, making me fall. Colin shouted for me to stay down, and just as I ducked, a curse hit him in the chest. The Death Eaters laughed, and I had gotten up and dueled all three of them at once, fury and misery burning my insides. I jinxed all of them, then had stayed by Colin's side, protecting his body from Death Eaters.

I looked to the next picture, and fresh tears came. It was of Fred Weasley. Fred had been one of my role models. He was funny, smart, brave, and knew how to handle things well. When I had learned of his death, I had shut myself in my room and not come out for a week.

As I looked down the hall, I cried harder. There were pictures of my friends, my teachers, and people who I had never met. It made me want to scream, the amount of pictures in the hall.

Finally, I couldn't take it any more. I walked out of the hall, drying my eyes on my sleeve. Abby looked at me knowingly, and patted my back.

"I know. It's sad."

I nodded, and took a deep breath. I decided that I wouldn't let that hall get any bigger. I decided to find a way to stop this war. I knew that I was one of the few people who could help win this war.

Abby saw that I had calmed down some, and then said, "Come on. There's someone who wants to see you."

She tugged me up the next flight of stairs, ignoring my squeaks of protest. She just kept humming a cheerful tune, smiling encouragingly at me.

The next floor was a bunch of offices. Abby led me to the closest one, and I could see two people inside. I hurried up to the door, and it opened before I could touch the handle.

Inside was a woman, and she looked about forty, give or take a few years. She had blonde hair, and sparkling blue eyes, and she smiled when I walked in. Standing next to her was a young man, about my age, with the same blond hair and blue eyes as the woman next to him. I assumed she was his mother. I looked harder at the young man, and realized that I recognized him.

"Dennis?" I gasped. I looked over my shoulder, trying to see if Abby was casting some sort of spell. She just smiled and nodded in the direction of Dennis. I turned back to him, not believing what I was seeing.

Dennis smiled. "Hi Nita."

"Hi." I said, coming to stand closer. "What are you doing here?"

Dennis looked at his mom, then back at me. "We came to give you something."

I looked at Mrs. Creevy. "You don't need to give me something. You don't owe me anything."

Mrs. Creevy shook her head. "No, dear. We owe you." She glanced at Dennis, who nodded, and then she turned back to me. "We know that you were good friends with Colin. He spoke very highly of you. If you hadn't been there fighting with him…." Her voice trailed off.

"He'd have been killed sooner." Dennis finished for her.

Mrs. Dennis took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes. We know that you made it harder for the Death Eaters to kill him."

I shook my head, disagreeing, and at the same time trying to dispel bad memories. "No. I didn't do anything except allow him to get killed."

Abby sighed, then came up and flicked me on the back of my head. "Nita, you need to stop blaming yourself for everything and accept thanks when it is given!"

I smiled weakly at her. "Sorry Abby. It's part of my being a Gryffindor, I suppose." I turned back to Mrs. Creevy. "I am glad for your thanks. But I really don't need anything."

Dennis smiled and answered. "But we aren't giving it to you. Colin wanted you to have it."

I looked between the two of them, shocked. "He wanted to give me something? Why didn't he give it to me before?"

Mrs. Creevy put a hand in her purse while she answered. "It was in his will. Oddly enough, he made a will when he learned that Voldemort had come out into the open."

I nodded. "That makes sense. I'm surprised not a lot of other people did that."

Mrs. Creevy pulled a black box out of her purse and handed it to me. "Colin said that he made it for you."

I ran my finger over the top of the box, finding patterns in the wood. My name was carved in swirling patterns, and I wondered if Colin had known how he was going to die. I guessed that he had chosen the way that he had wanted to die. Being a Gryffindor, it was easy to see where our bravery and loyalty would lead us.

I took a deep breath and opened the box. Inside, nestled on a piece of dark blue silk, was a cream colored stone, with blue swirls through it. There was a silver chain hanging from it, and the words _Gli amici mai allineare muoiono_ were inscribed in it. I smiled at Colin's ingenuity. He knew that I loved Italy, so he put the words in Italian.

I looked up at Mrs. Creevy and Dennis, tears swimming in my eyes. "Thank you." I whispered.

Mrs. Creevy got up and hugged me. "We know that friendship meant a lot to Colin. Thank you for being his friend."

I nodded. "Of course."

Dennis came up and shook my hand. "You made life at Hogwarts the best for Colin and me. I can't count how many times you defended us from Umbridge and the Slytherins."

I smiled. "It was fun. It's not every day that the Hogwarts teachers help you fight someone."

Dennis laughed. "Yeah. Umbridge was terrible." He said, clenching his fist.

I glanced at his fist, and saw the scars of Umbridge's nasty quill. In response, my fist clenched, making my own scars visible.

Mrs. Creevy smiled at us. "Come on Dennis, we have to go. Your father will be wondering where we are."

I nodded. "Yeah, you should go. But you do know that this is the safest place for us, right?"

Mrs. Creevy nodded. "Of course dear. It's just that if we left now, the muggles would suspect something."

I nodded again. "Right. We don't want that."

Mrs. Creevy patted my shoulder as she walked out, and Dennis shook my hand. Abby left to take them home, and left me standing in the office, holding Colin's gift. I ran my hand over the lettering on the stone, and the words changed to _You'll be in my heart forever_. I stifled a sob, and walked out of the room in somewhat of a daze. I kept my fingers wrapped around the box, refusing to let go.

I stumbled down the stairs, not seeing anything except the stone. I was just barely conscious enough of my surroundings to stop on the second floor. I ran into the first bedroom I could see, and collapsed on the four poster bed. I gingerly took out the necklace, letting the chain slip through my fingers.

When I removed the stone, a flap in the silk lifted up, revealing an area that was much deeper than the box. I guessed that an Enlargement charm had been placed upon it. I touched the edge of the hole, and it widened until there was only a fringe of silk. Inside the box was a scroll and a mirror.

I took out the scroll and unrolled it gingerly. The parchment crackled, and as I examined it, I saw a mixture of Colin's handwriting, and someone's who I knew I had seen before, but I couldn't remember it. I set the scroll aside and picked up the mirror. It was ornately carved, with flowers and vines wrapping around the sides. It was about three times the size of my head, which made me wonder what it was for. I shook my head, deciding that it was a mystery that could wait.

I set the mirror gently back in the box and placed the scroll on top of it. I touched the silk again, and it closed until the only glimpse I could see of the scroll was through a hole in the silk. I set Colin's necklace back in its place, running my hand over it once more.

I took my backpack off and placed Colin's gift gingerly inside. I had just zipped my bag up when Abby came in. She came and sat next to me, watching me with wary eyes. She knew that my emotions had been on edge today, and she was worried that I was going to crack.

"I'm fine." I said, patting her shoulder.

She nodded, but didn't look convinced. "Let's go downstairs. I'm sure that if we leave Alex alone with Andre too long he'll go insane."  
I nodded and laughed. "Yeah, an insane Alex would be bad."

Abby got up and helped me get off the bed. She pulled me downstairs, keeping my hand firmly grasped in hers. I tried resisting, but it was useless. Abby was a force to be reckoned with. It was like trying to stop a hurricane or a tornado.

When I had both feet safely on the ground, Alex jumped up and hurried over. He had a wild look in his eyes, one that told me that he was extremely close to going nuts.

"Don't ever leave me with Andre that long ever again." Alex said firmly.

I laughed. "Sorry, There were some interesting things up there."

Alex rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Sure. You were in the library the entire time."

I shrugged. "More or less."

Mark came over. "So what is the deal with your vacation?"

"I cleared it with Professor McGonagall. She said Alex and I could visit during the summer." I said while tapping my fingers in a pattern.

"And you are planning to go right now?" Paul asked, coming out of the kitchen nearest to us.

I nodded. "Yeah. Well, as soon as possible."

Mark through a loaded glance to Abby and Paul, and I wondered why Paul and Abby got huge grins on their faces.

"Wh – "I started, but was interrupted by Mark waving his hand.

"It's nothing. How long are you going to stay there?" he asked.

I shrugged. "As long as it takes for the professors to get sick of us."

Andre came out of the planning room, laughing. "Well, I imagine that will happen pretty soon."

Renee followed him. "Tell Hagrid hello for us, will you? It's been so long since we've been able to see him."

I nodded. "Sure. Anything else you want me to tell someone?"

Candle came out of the kitchen. "Just tell Professor McGonagall that we can't wait to see her, and that we are still resisting."

"Okay. Is that it?" Alex asked, apparently ready to go.

"Nope." Mark said.

"Okay then." I said, clapping my hands. "Send us a message where the tree is tomorrow." I told Mark, and then pulled Alex out of the tree.

A chorus of "Goodbye" s and "See you later" s followed us as we climbed down the roots of the tree. I turned back and waved, then nearly tripped over a root because of it. I could hear laughter behind us, and after a while I heard the door of the tree shut.

I turned to Alex. "So are you ready to see the famous Hogwarts?"

He grinned. "Absolutely. It has to be more interesting than regular school."

I snorted. "Yeah. Nearly getting killed every year, cursing Death Eaters, finding out that your favorite teacher has been sacked. A very interesting school."

Alex laughed. "I wonder why nobody goes there over the summer."

I pretended to think. "Oh, let's see. Well, there are the troublemakers, for starters. And the endless jinxing and hexing. Also, you can't forget that the teachers need a break from handling students."

Alex nodded. "Right. But it seems like a very interesting school."

"Of course."

We were far enough from the tree now that I could only see the topmost branches. I stopped, looking back. It was beautiful. So peaceful. I thought ruefully that my life was hardly ever peaceful. From one war to another, I was always fighting, defending others. There had been hardly any time to breathe before this war had started. I thought back to one of Mark's little pieces of Muggle history. He had said that there had been less than twenty five years between the two largest wars in the world. I grimaced, thinking that World War III had broken out and the Wizarding world had just gotten rid of the most evil person ever.

Alex tugged on my arm, shaking me out of my thoughts. "Come on." He coaxed. "We'll see them tomorrow."

I nodded, and then kept walking. Pretty soon we got to the spot where Abby had Apparated with us. Alex grimaced when we got to the spot.

"I think I prefer other forms of travel." He said, eyeing the spot with distaste.

I laughed. "Yeah. Apparition isn't the most comfortable way. But it's definitely the quickest."

He grimaced as he gripped my wrist, and I focused on Hogsmeade, the closest spot to Hogwarts I could Apparate to. I turned on the spot, and then we were in crushing blackness, my chest constricting. Before I could really get used to the dark, we were in Hogsmeade, right next to the Three Broomsticks.

Rosmerta nodded at us through the window in her tavern, and I smiled and waved. Alex was still gripping me tightly. His eyes darted around, never looking in the same area too long.

"Alex, calm down. This is my home turf. No one here is going to hurt you. They all know me." I said, patting his shoulder.

He relaxed a little. "Right. Sorry."

I smiled, and then began the familiar trek up to the castle. Alex stared at Hogwarts in awe, taking in its massive size and its huge towers. I smiled, thinking that this was a break in tradition for people first coming to Hogwarts.

"You know, normally, people first coming to the castle would ride in boats across the lake." I said conversationally.

Alex tore his eyes off the tower to look at me. "Really? Who leads them?"

"Hagrid." I said simply; because Hagrid had come down to meet us.

Alex's eyes widened as he took in Hagrid's giant size. He was a little less than half of Hagrid's height, and Hagrid's size was enough to terrorize anyone.

"'Ello Nita, how are yeh?" Hagrid said when he was close.

I shrugged. "Same as last year."

Hagrid nodded. "Fightin' the cheeky bullies, keepin' the muggles at bay, the usual."

I laughed. "Yeah, the usual."

Hagrid turned to Alex, who took an unconscious step backwards.

"Why, you must be Alex!" Hagrid said cheerfully. "Nita's told me a lo' abou' you."

Hagrid stepped forward and held out his hand. Alex, after a quick nervous glance at me, shook Hagrid's hand.

"H-hi Hagrid." Alex stuttered.

I smiled. "It's alright Alex. Hagrid's not going to hurt you. Unless you hurt Fang, which I don't think is wise anyway."

"Fang?" Alex turned to me with wide eyes.

"Yeah, Fang." I said, pointing to the large boarhound running towards us.

Fang nearly bowled Alex over when he got to us. He yelped excitedly, licking Alex all over. After a moment Fang got off Alex and attacked me. I found a large stick on the ground, and then threw it away, Fang bounding after it.

"I've missed Fang." I said, wiping my slobber-covered hands on my jeans.

Alex stared at me like I was crazy, but didn't comment.

Hagrid patted me on the head, nearly knocking me over. "Yeah, Fang has missed ya too. He's used to company."

"How's Grawp?" I asked.

In answer, Hagrid pointed to the Forbidden Forest, and I could see clouds of birds coming out of it.

"Ah. So he's doing well?"

Hagrid beamed. "He can speak well enough now. He helps me gather firewood and things from th' forest."

"So you still can't go in?" I asked, having vivid memories of the centaurs attacking the Death Eaters.

"Oh, I can go in alrigh'." Hagrid said. "The centaurs were kind enough after the battle."

I nodded. "That's great." Fang came bounding towards us again, holding the stick in his mouth. After he dropped it at my feet, I threw it as hard as I could towards the castle.

"Shall we go then?" I asked, noticing how Alex had just stared at me like I was insane for a full three minutes.

Hagrid nodded. "Sure. McGonagall's pleased that you're here Nita," Hagrid said as we started up to the castle. "She's been waitin' to see ya."

"She has?" I asked, my voiced filled with confusion. "What for? Do you know?"

Hagrid shook his head. "Nope. She said it was important, and then went into her office."

That made me think. "Who's the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year?"

Hagrid shrugged. "I dunno. Professor McGonagall hasn' gotten anyone ye'."

I nodded. "No one's really excited to take up the post, I guess."

Hagrid laughed. "Well, its no' exactly got the bes' record, has it?"

I shrugged. "We can hope, I guess."

Professor Flitwick and Slughorn were at the gates to meet us. Alex's eyes were about ready to bug out of their sockets. I guess that I talking to half-giants and playing with huge dogs hadn't ever crossed his mind.

"Hello!" Professor Flitwick squeaked. "Nita, it's good to see you well!"

"And you too professor!" I said, stepping up and shaking Flitwick's hand.

"Nita m'dear, it's been too long." Professor Slughorn said.

I shrugged. "It's only been a summer."

"Yes, well, it seems longer to us teachers." Slughorn said with a smile.

"Of course. How boring Hogwarts must be without students." I said, stepping back a little.

The professors shifted their attentions to Alex. His eyes were still a little wide, but I guess the professors were normal looking enough.

"And you must be the famous Alex!" Slughorn cried, shaking Alex's hand. "I have heard much about you m'boy."

"You have?" Alex asked, turning to look at me. I returned his look with an innocent expression.

"Oh, yes, we have!" Flitwick cried, bounding forward and shaking Alex's hand. "Nita has praised you to no end!"

"Oh, has she?" Alex asked. "What on earth did she say?"

Slughorn shrugged. "Only that she could have sworn you had magic in you, and that you would really love Hogwarts."

When Alex turned to me for confirmation of Slughorn's answer, I shrugged. "I told them that you were so understanding, you must have magic somewhere in you."

Alex turned back to the professors. "I guess that's okay." He said. He looked up at Hogwarts, and said, "It's huge."

"Yes!" Flitwick squeaked. "We need to house thousands of students, don't we?"

Alex nodded. "Yeah, I guess so."

Hagrid cleared his throat. "I think it's time that Alex see the inside, don't you?"

I nodded. "Of course. I can't wait to show Alex everything I know about it."

Flitwick tapped my arm. "Professor McGonagall said that she wishes to see you before you show your brother everything."

I nodded. "You lead the way." I said, gesturing for the professors to go.

As we walked up to the castle, Alex kept firing questions at the professors, but I could tell they enjoyed talking to him. He asked them about their subjects, the passages, everything he could think of. I just walked beside him, glad to finally be back to Hogwarts.

When we entered the great doors, I had a strong sense of déjà vu. I remembered the many times I had walked through these doors, and I remembered the battle that was fought here. I could almost see the giant spiders coming through the doors where we were, the Death Eaters shooting curses everywhere, and the teachers and Order members leading brigades of students into the fighting.

I took a deep breath, trying to stem the flow of memories. Professor Flitwick glanced at me, then away quickly. I guessed that he had the same problem. After a quick assessment of the entryway, I turned to Alex.

"I'll see you in a bit. Meet me in the Great Hall, okay?" I said, then spun around and ran up the staircase to the headmistress's office.

Professor McGonagall was waiting for me at the foot of the staircase leading up to her office. Today she was in emerald green robes.

"Hello professor!" I said cheerily, walking up to her.

"Hello Nita." Professor McGonagall said, and then she turned to the staircase. "Dumbledore's Army." She told it, and then the spiral staircase opened.

She led the way up the staircase and into her office. Another wave of déjà vu washed over me when I walked in. I remembered when I had helped Ginny, Neville, and Luna try to get Gryffindor's sword from Snape. As I glanced around the room, I noticed that the portrait of Dumbledore was still behind McGonagall's desk. I nodded at him, and he winked back.

Professor McGonagall turned to look at me. "You know that the next school year will begin in about two months." She said.

I nodded. "Right."

"You also know that you are the daughter of the leaders of this war."

I nodded again. "Yeah."

McGonagall sat down at her desk. "It's obvious that the war is reaching its peak. The Minister and I have decided that it would be too suspicious for you to go off to school in the middle of a war."

"Wait, what?" I couldn't register that. Me, not coming back for the final and most important year of school? I couldn't believe it.

"You won't be coming back to Hogwarts this year." McGonagall repeated.

"What will I do other wise? Even if I stay at home, I will have to repeat my seventh year after this war, and that could take forever." I shut my mouth and started tapping my fingers.

"That's why the other teachers and I brought you here. We have come up with a way for you to do your lessons." She got up and brought out a stone bowl filled with silvery liquid, and two boxes filled to the brim with glass vials.

"You will use this. The vials are filled with memories of all the seventh year lessons the teachers have given. I assume you know how to work this." McGonagall said with a small smile.

"Yeah, I know how." I said, smiling too. I remembered the one year that I had found it in Snape's office and seen Snape's memories. I don't think he even learned I knew his memories.

Professor McGonagall tapped her wand on the Pensive, and a box appeared around it. She placed all three boxes in a bag and then handed the bag to me. "Keep that safe. Let no Muggles see it." She warned.

"Of course." I said, slinging the bag over my shoulder.

She nodded, and then gestured for me to lead the way out of the office. I smiled at Dumbledore's portrait, and then walked down the stairs. I heard McGonagall shut the office door behind me.

When I walked into the Great Hall, I found Alex talking to Professor Sprout. Alex was nodding almost constantly, and Professor Sprout looked like she was describing something.

They hardly noticed me as I walked up. Alex's face went from shock to horror very quickly. I walked quicker, and then I heard Professor Sprout describing the Battle of Hogwarts.

"There were giants crashing all over the place, and giant spiders crawling everywhere, and everything was chaos. Spells were flying all over the place, and people were falling right and left. Everyone scrambled to get the upper hand. And then Voldemort's voice echoed around, instructing his Death Eaters to withdraw and telling us to treat our wounded and gather ourselves. Then he told Harry Potter to meet him in the forest in one hour."

I stopped, not wanting to ruin Alex's experience. It was horrible enough to live it, let alone to tell it. I imagined the movies that could be made from the final battle, and the around-the-block lines.

"So what happened then?" Alex asked, his face anxious. "What did Harry Potter do?"

"Well, he went into the forest of course." Professor Sprout said. "He couldn't stand seeing all these people die for him, so he decided to end it. He walked into the forest and to Voldemort. He faced Voldemort, but when Voldemort cast the Killing curse, it didn't touch Harry. Harry lived on, and Voldemort was weakened. Harry played dead as Voldemort and his followers celebrated what they thought was Harry's demise. And then, Voldemort had Hagrid carry Harry up to the front steps. Everyone came out of the castle, and we were all deceived. We thought that Harry was dead. In the madness that followed, Harry disappeared under his cloak, and the battle moved into this hall."  
Alex, by this point, was shaking with the intensity of the story. As Professor Sprout talked, I found myself reliving the memories of that night. I remembered the intense fighting inside the hall, the house elves screaming and fighting, and Bellatrix Lestrange dueling Hermione, Ginny, and Luna. I could see Mrs. Weasley, in all her fury, kill Bellatrix, and then Harry had appeared, tall and straight. I could see Voldemort and Harry pacing in a circle, and then Harry explaining and taunting Voldemort. I could see Voldemort cast the Killing curse, and Harry the Disarming spell. I could remember Voldemort's wand fly up in the air, and Harry catching it. I remembered the way that Harry looked when Voldemort was finally dead. He simply _radiated_ power, the way Dumbledore had. He had looked so powerful, so fierce, but so kind at the same time.

Professor Sprout finished telling the story, and Alex had to sit down. I walked closer, and I hugged Professor Sprout.

"It's good to see you again professor." I said.

She smiled. "It's good to see you too dear."

I looked at Alex. His eyes were still wide, and his hands were still shaking slightly. I moved and sat down next to him, and put my arm around his shoulders.

"You alright?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. I think so."

I smiled. "That story is quite an interesting one, don't you think?"

Alex nodded again. "Yeah, it is. Were you really there, fighting all those people?"

I nodded. "Yes, I was."

"What was it like?"

I sighed. "Horrifying, scary, but oddly refreshing. At the time, we had all been anxious for a rebellion, for overthrowing Voldemort, and so to finally do something…it relieved a lot of stress. Nothing like cursing a few Death Eaters to get rid of your anger."

Alex looked at me with admiration. "You really fought that battle? I can imagine movies made out of that."

I laughed. "I had the same thought. Funny how we are on the same wavelength."

I stood up. "So how much of the castle did you see?"

Alex stood up too. "Only the first couple classrooms on this floor. Professor Sprout and I got talking." He said, smiling at Professor Sprout.

"You have a very wonderful brother there, Nita." Professor sprout said. "Keep good care of him."

I nodded. "I sure will."

She patted my cheek. "I know you will. After what you did at the Battle, I couldn't doubt it."

Alex glanced at me curiously, but I ignored it. I nodded to Professor Sprout, and then beckoned for Alex to follow me out of the Great Hall.

"So, where to first?" I asked, looking up at the ceiling of the entryway.

Alex shrugged. "Wherever. You are the guide."

I smiled. "Shall we go the normal way, or the Fred and George way?"

Alex stared at me, confused. "The Fred and George way?"

I grinned wider. "Yes, the one and only Fred and George way."

Alex shrugged. "Sure, let's do that."

I laughed, and then drew my wand out of my sleeve. "Accio brooms!" I shouted, and then all of the Hogwarts brooms came flying through the open doors of the entry way, and stopped just short of us. I gestured towards them.

"Choose which one you want. Only, be careful which one. Some students store their brooms here and put hexes on them to curse whoever touches them." I told Alex, and then ran over to my broom, which was a Nimbus Two Thousand. I jumped onto my broom and zoomed around, waiting for Alex to choose one. He chose a Cleansweep, which rose steadily with him on it.

"This is the Fred and George way?" Alex asked, his voice nervous.

"Yep. This is how Fred and George ditched school their final year." I said cheerily, and then I cast a charm to send the other brooms back to the shed.

After Alex got used to his broomstick, I led the way up the staircase and through the different levels of the castle, pointing things out to Alex as we passed.

"Can we see the Gryffindor common room?" Alex asked.

"Sure." I said, and then turned on my broom to the Gryffindor common room. When we got off, the Fat Lady was there, and she let me in without a password, because she knew me so well.

Alex walked in, and his eyes got wide. "This is so cool!" He exclaimed.

I laughed. "Yeah, it's alright." I moved to the window, and I could see Hagrid's hut and the lake. Something white caught my eye, and when I looked closer, I saw a white pavilion, with marble pillars.

"Hey Alex, there's something that I want to go see." I said, then opened the window, got on my broom, and flew off.

When I touched down, I left my broom there. I had a sense that it shouldn't be brought into the pavilion. I walked up the marble steps, and inside was a tomb and a large plaque. I recognized Dumbledore's grave, but I hadn't seen the plaque. As I went up to read the plaque, I realized that it was a list of names of all those that died in the battle against Voldemort. Everyone who had been reported killed was there. It touched my heart to see all those people named at the place where they died.

Alex and I toured the rest of the castle, and had dinner in the Great Hall with the teachers. We laughed about all the things in the previous school years that had helped us win the battle, and how many things that students had done to get rid of all the Death Eaters. That night, Alex and I slept in sleeping bags in the hall, and we talked about the Battle of Hogwarts, and what Fred and George had done throughout their years at Hogwarts.

When we woke, we said goodbye to the teachers and to Hagrid, and we Apparated home. When we arrived, I could already smell all of the sweets that Mum was making for my birthday. I smiled, and then raced inside.

"Hi Mom!" I called, skipping through the back door. She was standing at the oven, poking a toothpick into brownies to see if they were done.

"Hello dear! Just finishing up a batch of brownies." Mom called.

"Alright. Alex and I just got home." I told her, and then headed into the living room and sat down at the piano.

I placed my hands on the keys, and a kind of calm swept over me. I could feel a tingle in my fingers, and then I just played. I played what I felt like right at that moment. Then, as my thoughts turned to Professor Sprout's story, my music turned darker and more mysterious.

Alex came into the room and sat down next to the piano. He tapped his fingers in a rhythm, and automatically my fingers started playing a song to that rhythm. He smiled, and then made the beat more complicated. I listened for a moment, and then played a song that wove in and out of the beat, accenting some notes and smoothing over others. After a couple of minutes, Alex brought his beat to a close, and I did the same.

Alex laughed. "Shall we do a duet then?"

I shrugged and scooted over on the bench. "Shall I play upper hand or lower hand?"

Alex sat on the lower half. "Upper hand, while I play the lower."

I nodded, and then waited for Alex to start. Heart and Soul came out of the keys, and I laughed. When it was my turn, I decided to jazz it up a little. I played the accompaniment in a jazzy form, with my fingers dancing over the black keys. Alex's eyebrows rose, and then he laughed. We played like that for a couple of minutes, and then brought our song to a close.

Just as we finished, the doorbell rang. I jumped up and called "I'll get it!", then ran over to the door and pulled it open.

The neighbors were standing there, all of them holding either food or wrapped gifts. "Happy Birthday!" They chorused.

I beamed. "Thank you! Come in, come in." I said while standing aside.

For the next hour or so, I was running the post of doorman. I would send them into the kitchen, where Mum could take control. After a while, I began to realize just how many people Mum had invited. It seemed as if the entire block was here, and then some.

In between running the door post, Alex and I would play on the piano. I taught him to play the jazz version of Heart and Soul, and he, in turn, taught me to play a song he had heard on the radio.

"It's called Only Time." He said, his fingers dancing over the keys.

I nodded, and then copied the tune an octave higher. After a minute or two, I started adding my own embellishments, my fingers adding a note or two there, accenting some there, and then Alex was playing the melody while I was playing the accompaniment.

There was a knock at the door, and before I could jump up, the door opened, and all of my friends arrived, each of them holding gifts. I grinned.

"I thought you guys couldn't make it!" I exclaimed. I ran over to them and hugged each of them.

"We wouldn't miss it for the world." Mark said.

I nodded. "Well, head into the kitchen, because Mum is running this place."

As they all trooped into the kitchen, a few of my neighbors came out. One of them had been my music teacher when I was little, and the others had been my babysitters while my parents had gone away.

My music teacher came over to me. "That's some music you're creating." He said, nodding towards the piano.

I shrugged. "It comes, naturally, you know? It just seems to flow through me, like it's been kept up inside me forever, and I finally found a way to let it out."

My music teacher nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Still, that's some pretty music."

I smiled. "Thanks. Most of it is from Alex though; he's taught me a lot." I nodded towards Alex, who was still on the piano bench.

Alex shook his head. "Nah, you are most of it. I just teach you a song or two here, but all the rest is you."

I shook my head. "No, I'm pretty sure you taught me more than that."

At that moment, my friends came out of the kitchen. "Oh, just accept the compliment and get on with life." Andre suggested.

I laughed. "Alright then. Thank you for the compliment." I said, curtsying a little.

They all laughed, and then Mum came out with this huge cake shaped like a book. I laughed when I saw that the icing was the cover of my favorite book, _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_.

"Aww, Mum, you didn't have to." I insisted, thinking of how much detail there was in the icing.

Mum shrugged. "It was nothing dear. Quite fun, really."

I examined the cake closer, and saw that it combined the covers of all the books in the Percy Jackson series. There was a sea, with lightning and a peagasus flying through the air, and a maze on the ground, and in the corner, a man holding up the world.

"Whoa, Mum, you overdid yourself." I breathed.

Mum shrugged again. "I don't mind."

I smiled. "Of course you don't."

Mum smiled and set the cake on the table nearest to us, and placed the candles in. After a quick chorus of "Happy Birthday to You", Mum cut the cake into pieces and started serving everyone.

I decided to help, and so I brought out the brownies and ice cream. I insisted that everyone had been served before I got some, and so I was the last to finish. Some of the neighbors joked that I would be a martyr someday.

After everyone had eaten as much cake and ice cream as they could, they all insisted that I start opening presents. We had to wait until Mum found the camera, and then she had to find extra batteries. When she came back, she had a worried look in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, but we have no batteries." She said.

I jumped up. "I'll go get them."

Mum shook her head. "No, it's your birthday. Someone else can go."

I shook my head. "No Mum, I'm fine. I'll just go get them." I glanced at Mark. "Can I borrow your car?"

Just as Mark started digging his keys out of his pocket, Dad came down the stairs. "I have a better idea." Dad said, then tossed me a set of keys. "It's time to see what's under that sheet in the garage."

I smiled. "Alright then. I'll go and grab the batteries. Is there anything else you want?"

"More brownies!" Andre called from his place on the couch.

Everyone laughed. "Okay then. Brownies and batteries." I said, then turned and ran to the garage.

As soon as I got into the garage, I dashed to the spot where my car was. I pulled off the sheet, and underneath was a smooth, glossy, black Mercedes. I grinned. My dad knew me well.

I jumped in and started the car. The engine purred, and I had a fierce desire to push this puppy to its limits. But I decided that batteries and brownies were more important than me going a hundred miles an hour.

I pulled carefully out of the driveway, nearly drooling at the smooth sound and ride of the car. It was so beautiful, but so powerful. A perfect car for me.

As I drove to the store, my thoughts turned to my new school situation. It was going to be difficult to hide it from Mum and Dad. I guessed that I would need to do it while they were asleep. I also thought of how I would have to take Muggle courses. I grimaced, thinking of how much work I was going to have to do. Muggle work wasn't that hard, but I thought of how much I would be expected to go out and hang out with the kids at the Muggle school.

As I pulled into the parking lot of the store, I realized that my new car wasn't the wisest choice for someone who wants to stay inconspicuous. Every eye was drawn to my car, and I shrunk down in my seat.

I got my seat belt unbuckled, my things gathered, and myself out of the car and into the store in record time. I dashed over to the bakery section, where I could smell some fresh bread. As I was examining the brownies, a familiar voice came from behind me.

"Why, if it isn't Miss Nita."

I turned and saw Bexxi, a Slytherin who had just graduated from Hogwarts. She was sneering at me, and I could see her other friends in the aisles around us.

I smiled at her. "Hello Bexxi. Lovely night, isn't it?" I asked, turning my back on them. I knew it was a dangerous thing to do, seeing how I was a Gryffindor and they were Slytherins, but I wanted to see what they would do.

"Yeah, a lovely night. You seem a little tense." Bexxi observed.

I shrugged. "I'm always tense these days."

Bexxi nodded. "Yeah, you have a point there." I could see Bexxi drawing her wand out of the corner of my eye, and I turned towards her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." I told her through unmoving lips. "There's a security guard watching us right now, and he isn't too fond of our type. You'll get arrested."

Bexxi glanced at the security camera behind me, and it seemed to dawn on her that I was quite right. She sighed, but stepped away.

"Nice seeing you, oddball." She called over her shoulder.

"Yeah, nice seeing you too." I muttered. I turned back to the brownies, and within minutes I had bought them and the batteries, and was in my car.

I decided to take a detour, taking a longer route that passed by an empty parking lot. I drove around the parking lot as fast as I dared, and the car didn't even break a sweat. I made about twenty laps around the parking lot before I realized that it was getting late. As I pulled out of the parking lot, four fire trucks raced by, sirens going and lights flashing. They were headed in the direction of my neighborhood.

Oh, that's nothing. I told myself. It might be in a different area than my house.

But as I followed the fire trucks, I realized that there was a column of smoke coming from the area of my house. The fire trucks were heading to my street.

As I turned onto my street, a horrible sight met me. There were about ten fire trucks, all spaced out along the street. All the houses on the street were ablaze. My house was burning the most. I sped towards it, and then cops were there signaling me to get off the road.

Realizing that it would be better to walk, I jumped out of my car and dashed towards my house. I couldn't see anyone coming out of it, or anyone who had come out. I knew that the entire neighborhood was in there. I had to get them out. I just had to.

Ignoring the shouts of the firemen, I raced to the front door and kicked it open. It fell open, and I was met with a wall of smoke. I dove in, and my first thought was to get the people out of the second floor. I felt my way along the wall, and then raced up the stairs as fast as I dared. I searched the rooms, and found someone. I gathered them in my arms and carried them down the stairs and out the door. I laid them on a piece of lawn far away from the fire, then I raced back inside. I made so many trips that I couldn't count them. Nothing registered in my mind besides the fact that I needed to get these people out of there.

When I was finally sure that there was no one left on the top floor, I raced around the first floor, and did the same. I carried people out through the wreckage, or dragged them. I could hardly see, but I always knew where I was.

I was running through the first floor when I thought to check the basement. I raced down the stairs, and tried to open the door leading to it. It was stuck. I pushed and pushed, and finally I kicked down the door, the smoke starting to make my breathing harsh. I peered through the haze of flames and smoke, and I saw a body lying on the floor. I didn't stop to register who it was. I just grabbed their arms and dragged them back the way I had come. I kept their head above the ground as I kicked away flaming debris.

I could hear the house groaning under the flames. I knew that I only had minutes left before the whole thing collapsed. I decided then to try and carry the person, instead of dragging them. As I lifted the limp body into my arms, I could see the open door. I ran to it, but before I could get to the door, a flaming beam fell down, blocking the way.

I spun, looking wildly for another exit. I could see a part of the wall where almost all of the wood and drywall was burnt away. I hurried over to it, my breathing ragged. I shifted the person in my arms, and kicked away the remaining wall. The wall practically fell apart the moment my foot made contact with it. Within seconds, there was an opening large enough for me to get through.

I squeezed myself through, and then I could breathe again. My lungs welcomed the clean air, but they still felt like they had rocks in them. I looked around, and spotted the rest of the limp forms that I had rescued.

I ran over to them, ignoring the flashing lights of the fire trucks and the shouts of bystanders. I set the person in my arms down, and then straightened up. I stumbled a little, my tired legs protesting. I sank to the ground, and then blacked out.

* * *

**A/N: Pretty exciting, huh? I know, I know, it's long, but I felt that you guys definitely deserved a long chapter. Anyway, please read and review! I also thought that you deserved another chapter. So, here it is!**

* * *

Chapter 5

I heard a loud beeping noise. It got inside my head, like an alarm clock. I wanted to reach over and throw it against the wall. When I moved my hand though, something tugged against it.

I opened my eyes, and I examined the ceiling. It was tiled, like a hospital. That would explain the funny smell. I looked over and saw that I was strapped to an IV. I groaned. Needles and I do not go that great together.

I heard something move off to the side, and I moved my eyes. I could see Paul, Andre, Abby, and Candle sitting on a bunch of chairs. I smiled at them.

"Hey guys." I croaked.

Their faces lit up. "Glad to see you awake." Candle said as she stood up.

They all gathered around my bed. They all looked terrible, like they hadn't slept in a while.

"Whoa, you guys look awful." I said.

Paul smirked. "Look who's talking."

"You've been out for days." Abby said.

"Wait, days? What happened?" I was so confused. I couldn't remember anything but flashing lights.

Candle smiled. "I think you should see the news broadcasts." She turned and pressed a button on the T.V. in the room, and then switched the channel to the news.

"The serious fire in the neighborhood has finally been put out after four days." The newscaster said. The screen flashed to a scene of the wreckage. Our entire neighborhood was black soot. I stared in horror at it.

"Fire crews were able to focus on the fire while bystanders rescued the inhabitants of the houses. It appears that they had gathered for a party in one of the houses, so all the others were empty." The screen flashed to a video of someone running out of the blaze carrying a person. After a moment, I recognized myself.

"This girl ran inside and dragged everyone out of the building by herself. She risked her life over and over again to get dozens of people out. She is now in the hospital after suffering severe lung damage."

Candle switched off the T.V. and came to sit by me. I just stared in everyone in shock. "So, I just saved about a hundred people's lives." I said slowly.

"Yep." Abby said. "A true Gryffindor."

"So, what happened to all those other people?" I asked.

Paul shrugged. "Here, there, some are still in the hospital, others are staying with relatives." He exchanged a glance with everyone in the room except me.

I looked around, and noticed that my family wasn't there. "Where is my family? Why aren't they huddled around my sickbed?"

Everyone exchanged looks again. "Er, they aren't here." Andre said slowly.

At that moment the door opened, and the doctor came in. He was about six feet, with brown hair and blue eyes.

"Ah, so the hero is finally awake." He said, coming over to me. I could see on his badge that his name was Darwin Carter.

I smiled weakly. "I'm not that much of a hero." My friends rolled their eyes.

"Yeah, like running into a burning building over a hundred times and carrying out about a hundred and twenty people isn't heroism."  
"You make it sound bigger than it actually was." I mumbled.

Dr. Carter laughed. "Things like that always sound bigger than they actually were."

Dr. Carter checked my tubes and the machines hooked up to me. He nodded a lot, and smiled too.

"Well, it looks like you've made a full recovery. You can go home whenever you like." Dr. Carter said. He patted my forehead, then exchanged a glance with Paul.

"We were about to tell her when you came in." Paul said, then Dr. Carter nodded and left.

I stared in confusion at Paul. "Tell me what?"

He sighed, then glanced around at my friends. "Your family is dead. They died about three hours ago."

"What?" I asked. I couldn't grasp the idea of my family being dead.

"They had suffered severe burns and worse lung damage than you. Alex had tried to get everyone out but had collapsed in a pile of flames, by the looks of it." Andre said.

"So…everyone is gone?"

My friends all nodded. "Well, what about my aunts, uncles? Are they safe?" I asked hurriedly.

My friends' eyes got sadder. "We just received word that on their way down here to see you, they all got in a twenty-seven car accident. Not a single person lived." Paul explained.

It felt like my universe was crashing down around me. No family. "Where are Mark, Chris, and Renee? Shouldn't they be here?" I asked, grasping at straws.

My friends' countenances dropped even lower, if that was possible. "They're…they're gone too." Abby whispered.

No. No no no. It can't be. "You are joking." I croaked. "You've got to be joking."

But the looks on my friends' faces told me that it was true. It felt like my heart was shattering, exploding into tinier pieces the more I thought about how many people I had lost. Friends, family, almost everyone.

"Well, what about those other people? The ones I rescued?" I asked quietly.

"Only about half of them are here." Candle whispered. "The others…well, they just didn't make it."

"So I tried to save everyone, but it didn't work." I whispered.

"Nita, you know that if you had stayed in the sidelines every single one of us would have died." Andre said firmly.

"And, you gave your all to save everyone. You've risked your life to save every single one of their lives more than once." Paul added.

"So who lived?" I asked, trying to steer the conversation out of painful waters.

"Well, we don't know if all of them will survive. They are all in intensive care." Abby said.

"Well, that's just great." I said. "Now, can someone get me some clothes? I'm kind of tired of this place."

Candle smiled. "Sure thing." She grabbed a bag sitting at the foot of my bed, and inside was a set of clothes.

"Thanks." I said, smiling.

When my friends all left, I felt like curling into a ball and crying. I wanted to let my shattered heart break some more. I wanted to do it, but I decided that the hospital is not the place for a break down. My friends needed me to cope with the loss of some of our team.

When I was fully dressed, I came out of the room to find a group of people just outside the door. My friends were trying to keep them back. As I came out of the room, a general cry came out from the group. Cameras flashed, people shouted "Thank You" s and "You're so brave" s. I smiled sheepishly, then grabbed my friends and marched out of the hospital.

As we got to the parking lot I stopped. "Um, so where am I supposed to go?"

Paul smiled. "We've got a surprise for you." He turned and led the way to the middle of the parking lot.

I smiled when I saw my car there, and Paul fished the keys out of his pockets. I called shotgun, and we all piled in the car. As Paul started the car, I glanced out the window and saw about twenty news crews standing around the entrance of the hospital.

"Um, let's get going before that news crew finds us." I said, and Paul nodded.

We raced out of the parking lot, and for the most part I paid attention to where we were going. We were heading out of town, away from my neighborhood. There was a dense forest around our town, so not before long we were taking a winding path through the trees.

"Paul, where are we going?" I asked after ten minutes of forest driving.

He grinned. "Well, a land owner out here saw what you did, and so he decided to give you some land up here. After word got around that your parents died, a couple of wizards came down and helped us build something for you."

Just as he finished talking, a dirt road appeared in the trees, and Paul took it. I would normally be concerned about taking a car on a dirt road, but the road seemed to be flattened. I guessed that one of the wizards had smoothed out the road.

After a couple more minutes of driving, I could see a clearing up ahead. I leaned forward in my seat, anxious to see what was in that clearing.

And then the road turned to gravel, and we pulled into a huge clearing. Right in the middle of the clearing was a huge mansion. It was almost a castle, even. I stared in amazement at the beautiful stone architecture and the monster size of the place.

"So, the wizards who came down, I'm guessing that they are Scottish." I said.

Everyone laughed. "Yeah, pretty much." Andre said from the backseat.

Paul parked the car, and we all got out. He tossed me the keys, and that reminded me.

"Hey, do you guys have my backpack? I had it on me when I went to the store before…" my voice trailed off.

"Yep! It's inside." Abby said cheerfully.

I sighed in relief. "Okay then. On to exploring the house."

As we walked to the front door, Paul explained that there were about thirty bedrooms, thirty bathrooms, and a giant kitchen and office/library.

When we walked inside through the giant double doors, I was immediately reminded of Hogwarts. There was a grand staircase off to the side, right where it would be in Hogwarts. The ceilings were the same design as Hogwarts. Even the smell of it was similar.

We toured the house, everyone explaining some aspect of the house. They had all thought that I would like a house designed after Hogwarts, especially because Hogwarts had been my home away from home. The ceiling was bewitched to reflect the mood of the people inside, and almost the entire house was stone. The kitchens were the size of a restaurant kitchen, and I smiled when the entire fridge was filled with food.

We went through the office/library, which reminded me of the Hogwarts library. It was so big, and there were even Muggle books in there. All the guest bedrooms were bewitched to change to the inhabitant's preference. My bedroom was the coolest though. It was up a flight of stairs, the second highest floor. There was a griffin there, exactly like the Headmaster's office in Hogwarts.

"Nita." Abby said, and then the griffin moved away and revealed a spiral staircase. I walked up the stairs and was met with a beautiful room. The walls were a light purple, with white designs all over them. A waterfall played in a corner, and the light was a chandelier. A giant four-poster bed stood in the middle of one wall and on the opposite side there was a huge T.V. and entertainment system.

"Wow." I breathed. I heard the others coming up beside me.

"Yeah. It's beautiful, isn't it?" Candle said. "We thought you would like it."

"It's magnificent." I said.

"It's also the best security system." Abby said. "You change the password by writing it on a piece of paper and sticking it in the slot on the dresser." She pointed to a dresser with a slot cut in the side of it.

"Whoa." I breathed. "You guys are awesome."

They all beamed, then we left my room. We toured the house some more. In a room right off the entryway there was a grand piano. I smiled and ran over to it. It was almost exactly like the piano that Alex and I had played on.

"Thanks guys!" I said after we finished. "The house is magnificent."

Paul shrugged. "It was nothing."

We all moved outside into the backyard, and I was met with a long, rolling green lawn with flowerbeds dotting it. "Whoa. You guys really outdid yourselves." I told them.

Candle smiled. "It was fun." She ran up and poked me, then ran away laughing. I ran after her, and we all played tag until we were interrupted by a dozen or so owls landing in the middle of the lawn.

As we moved closer to them, I realized that they were all carrying messages. I bent down and untied all the messages from the owls' legs, and they all flew off. I sat down on the beautiful green grass and tore open the first one. It was in elegant script, and it was from a witch in the next town.

_Dear Nita,_

_When I heard about your act of true heroism, and your loss, I knew I had to send a letter. You were so brave to run into the fire over and over again to save the lives of all those Muggles._

_I am truly sorry about your loss. If there is anything my friends and I can do for you, just let us know. We will be happy to help you with anything you need. You have helped the Wizarding world so much; it's all we can do to return the favor._

_Again, sorry for your loss._

_Marietta._

I guessed that all the other letters were of the same idea. I gathered them all up and put them in my pocket. I would open them later, in private.

My friends and I whiled away the time watching movies and talking about our favorite years at Hogwarts. I guessed that my friends were trying to keep my mind and their minds off our losses.

Eventually, they all left. I climbed the stairs to my room, and turned on some music. I smiled when I saw that my friends had added all of my favorite songs on the sound system.

After I changed into more comfortable clothes, I sat on my bed and opened the letters. Each one of them described how my act of heroism inspired them, and how much they were sorry for my loss. They all insisted that if I needed help, I would be able to call on them and expect instant help.

I spent the night curled into a tight ball, trying to push back the horrible feeling of loneliness. Eventually, I fell asleep. My dreams were filled with orange light, the smell of smoke, and the screams of people in pain.

When I woke, I took my time getting downstairs. My dreams were still fresh on my mind. I checked my phone, and it was filled with messages from people calling about the same thing that the letters had talked about. One was from my parent's lawyer, asking if we could meet sometime to discuss the will. Others promised to take care of the funerals. Others still were family members of the ones who were in intensive care, and they told me that they would be forever grateful to what I did.

I spent the morning replying to all the messages. I told the lawyer that we could meet that afternoon, and I told all the others that they could do what they wanted.

I got ready for the appointment with the lawyer, and got in my car. We were meeting at the diner just inside of town, so I needed a few minute's head start. As I pulled out of the trees, my mind was on what my parents could have possibly left me. Money? Not likely. All our other possessions were burned to ashes, so none of those. Maybe my leadership in the war. Yes, that would be it. I would be expected to take control of the war.

When I got to the diner, everyone stared at my car. When I got out, a round of applause from the people in the parking lot met me. Several people ran up and shook my hand. It took a long time for me to get to the door of the diner, because more and more people were coming out of it.

Once I was finally in a booth, the owner of the place told me that I could order anything I wanted and that it was on the house.

"That won't be necessary. I've got money." I protested.

He waved his hand. "Nonsense. You eat here for free." He insisted.

I smiled. "Alright then. I'll have an apple pie."

He grinned and went back to the kitchen. A few minutes later he came out with a steaming hot slice of apple pie, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. I smiled and thanked him, and waited for the lawyer to get here.

When he arrived, he came and sat down across from me. He was about five seven, with short blond hair and grey eyes.

"Hello Nita." He greeted me.

"Hi Simon. What's up?"

He shrugged. "The usual. People scrambling to get themselves together, me having to go out and deal with legal junk."

I nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

He looked at me sympathetically. "I bet you do."

For a moment, we listened to the T.V., which was saying that three witches and two wizards had been caught yesterday. Anger boiled up inside me when I thought about how little the Ministry of Magic was doing to stop the war. I thought about how much I was doing compared to them, and suddenly I felt like I needed to overthrow the Ministry, or at least change it.

Simon seemed to sense my mood. "I know, this war is frustrating." He said.

I nodded. "Yeah. It's hard to tell who's got the upper hand."

Simon smiled. "We've got you on our side. I think we have the upper hand."

I smiled. "Thanks. Now, what did you want to talk to me about again?"

Simon reached into his briefcase and pulled out a piece of paper. "I'm here to talk about your parent's will."

"Oh, right."

Simon looked at me. "I know this must be difficult for you."

I grimaced. "Just tell me what the will says."

Simon shrugged. "Okay. It says that you are to have all their money, all their possessions, and you are supposed to take their position as head of the war."

"Well, the last thing wasn't so much of a shock. But money? How much did they have?" I asked.

Simon glanced down at the will, and said "They had about a million dollars saved up."

"Wait, _what_?"

Simon looked up at me. "They had a million and five dollars saved up."

"But where on earth did they get all of it?"

Simon shrugged. "It might be from running this war; it also might be that they saved all they could."

"Whoa." I said, shaking my head. "That is a lot of money."

Simon nodded. "Yeah, it is. Do you have any idea of what you are going to do with it?"

I shrugged. "I don't know yet. I didn't know they had that much money."

Simon smiled. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

He placed the paper back in his briefcase, and then stood up. "Sorry to bother you. But thanks for coming all the way down here."

I smiled and stood up too. "It was no problem. The house can get a little empty."

Simon looked at me curiously. "Where are you staying?"

"My friends built a house for me, so I'm staying there."

"Oh." Simon glanced at his watch. "Well, I have to go. It was nice seeing you."

"Yeah, it was nice seeing you too." I said, and then he walked out. I turned back to my mostly-eaten apple pie, and decided that I didn't want the rest of it. I placed twenty dollars on the table, and then left.

When I was home, I was met with more owls and more messages on my phone. I answered all the phone calls, and wrote back to those who sent me the owls. It was about six in the afternoon before I was done, and then I got a burning sensation in my pocket where I kept my coin.

I pulled it out and it said _We are heading out now. The Muggles are extremely close to finding out about us when we stay at the hotel. We are moving to the Tree. Goodbye._

I sighed, and then placed the coin back in my pocket. Now I was all alone. Great.

* * *

**A/N: So, how was it? Good, great? Please read and review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, I wouldn't need to put a disclaimer, now would I?**

**A/N: This chapter takes place about 6 months after the fire. The war has been going steadily downwards, but occasionally the Muggles would figure out a piece to the puzzle. Also, I thought that part of this chapter might be best written from Hermione's POV. So, Hermione's POV is from here to the little stars. After that, it's back to my POV.**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

I Apparated into a little clearing, and immediately started casting Anti-Muggle charms around it. When I was done, I pulled out a tent from my bag, and set it up. We were here for a reason, and as soon as the others got here we could discuss it.

I heard a crack behind me, and I spun around to find George standing there. I smiled at him.

"Ready?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I guess so."

I nodded, then sat down next to the tent. I grabbed a stick and started drawing in the dirt.

"This war is getting more dangerous." George commented, coming to sit next to me. "There were a lot of people captured yesterday."

I nodded. "Right. But think of how many people that girl is protecting. The Muggles have no idea how large our population is. She is protecting more than she is allowing to get captured."

"Of course. It's just…it seems as though she could be doing more."

I shook my head. "She can't really. The Muggles think that she is on their side, and that she is bringing in huge amounts of our kind. If she brought in less, the Muggles would think that she would be working for our side."  
I heard a crack, and looked up. Harry, Ron, and Ginny were standing there, all of them with anxious looks on their faces.

"What?" I asked.

"Mum and Dad decided that they weren't coming." Ron explained.

"They're waiting until we find her to come." Ginny said, coming forward to sit next to me.

"But that could take forever!" I exclaimed, jumping up.

Ron laughed. "That's why they are staying."

"But the Muggles could find out about them any day now!" I said. I started pacing, thinking about all the possibilities that could happen to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

"Hermione, calm down." Harry said, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Mr. and Mrs. Weasley have all of our enchantments around them, and they are great with their wands. They aren't about to get caught by the Muggles."

I nodded, then took a deep breath. "Right. Now, let's get to planning." I turned and walked inside the tent, and the others followed me.

I laid out a map of the town on the table, and everyone gathered around it. I pointed to where we were on the map.

"This is where we are. Now, we know that she is about Ginny's age, so she'll be going to the Muggle High School, which is here." I pointed to a square on the map not too far from where we were.

"Right. Also, we know that she's the leader of the Muggle side, so her office would be here." Harry said, pointing to an office building across the town from us.

"Don't forget that she's a volunteer, so she could be at any of the shelters and offices around town." Ginny added, marking with her wand the animal shelter, the fire department, the police department, and the orphanage.

"She also is super smart, so she'll probably be hanging around the library." Ron said, pointing to the library on the map.

"I also heard that she's a musical genius." George said. "So she could be at the concert hall." He pointed to the concert hall across town.

I nodded. "Right. So we've got to check eight places."

"I'll check the volunteer offices." Ginny offered.

"I'll check her office." Harry said.

"I'll check the library." Ron said smirking. "It's been a while since I've been to one."

I nodded. "Then I'll check her high school."

"Here's a question though, how are we supposed to tell if it's her?" George asked.

I shrugged. "The Minister said that we'll know by the way she acts, and the look in her eyes."

"So look for a Gryffindor?" Ron joked.

I nodded. "I guess."

"But how are we going to disguise ourselves?" Ginny asked, tapping her fingers on the table.

"I think that for a few places, like the volunteer places, the concert hall, and the library, we can go as ourselves. But for the war office and the high school, we should disguise."

"How much Polyjuice Potion do we have?" Harry asked.

"Enough for a couple of hours." I said, checking my bag. "You should take the Cloak Harry, you know how to use it the best."

Harry nodded. "Okay."

I took out a jar of mud-colored liquid and set it on the table. "We'll meet here tonight. Try and gather as much information as possible."

The others nodded, and they all left. I could hear sharp cracks as they Disapparated. I rummaged through my bag for my Muggle text books, and placed them on the table. I preformed the Summoning charm, and a few hairs belonging to a girl zoomed into my palm.

I placed the hairs in the Polyjuice Potion, and it turned a burgundy color. I grimaced as I sipped it, and then I could feel myself changing. My hair grew longer, I got a little taller, and I felt my nose get a little crooked.

I sighed, then gathered my textbooks in my arms and slipped my wand up my sleeve. I walked out of the tent and into the forest in the direction of the high school. I wondered how I would know who she was. The Minister said that I would know when I saw her.

I heard the noise of the kids before I could see it. Hundreds of voices chattering away, and I started moving more cautiously. I came out of the trees onto a street, and when I looked around I could see dozens of teenagers heading to a large brick building. I headed in the same direction.

When I got to the school, I stopped next to a tree, scanning the hundreds of students. None of them seemed to catch my eye. I noticed a group of big guys that reminded me of Slytherins, but no one really screamed "Gryffindor" to me.

The group of Slytherins moved around the schoolyard, and everyone else moved away from them. I gathered that they were the bullies, and not very forgiving ones either. They were moving towards a bench that a young man was sitting on. I could see that they intended to pick on him, and I instinctively moved towards him. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see another girl run in his direction.

The Slytherins got there before either of us did. At first, the young man tried to walk away, but the Slytherins wouldn't let him. One of the Slytherins threw a punch, and the young man got it full in the gut. He crumpled to the ground, and the Slytherins kicked him.

The other girl who I had seen run to the young man got to the fight at that moment. She shoved the Slytherins out of the way and knelt next to the young man. She pulled him upright, but he collapsed again. She set him back on the ground and took a defensive stance over him. The group of Slytherins laughed, and started attacking her. She slowly backed away from the young man, and the Slytherins followed. They left their original prey alone, and moved after the girl.

The girl was a good fighter, no doubt about that. Her fists were connecting with some part of the Slytherins, but it wasn't good enough. They kicked and punched and shoved her, and she kept on looking worse and worse. But she never backed down. She just drew the Slytherins away from the young man, away from all the other kids in the school yard.

The school bell rang after a few more minutes, but only the Slytherins went inside. The rest of us were frozen, staring at the girl like she was the best thing on the planet. She walked over to the young man, who was still lying on the ground, and helped him up. She put his arm over her shoulder and her arm around his waist, and helped him limp into the school.

When the pair got to the steps of the school, the rest of us came to our senses. The school yard burst into applause, and the girl turned around with a look of surprise on her face. After a moment she smiled, then continued helping the young man inside the school.

The other students hurried inside, chattering excitedly. I hung back, smiling. I found the girl we were looking for.

****************************************************************************************************************************************************

I woke up, feeling lousy. I had had a bad night's sleep. I decided that staying up half the night trying to decipher the notes of the Ministry was not a good way to make someone go to sleep. It just gives you weird dreams of people in funny hats and house elves trying to steal your socks.

I rolled out of bed and stumbled over to the closet to get dressed. I got dressed in jeans and a red T-shirt. I put my hair up in a ponytail, and then slipped on my sneakers. I bounded downstairs, one of my favorite songs stuck in my head.

I wolfed down a bowl of cereal, then went into the piano room. I sat down at the piano, then placed my fingers on the keys and played. At first the music was slow, and then it got faster, a light, cheerful tune dancing around the keyboard. In my mind I located my school bag, and my magic coin. It hadn't burned in months.

After a few minutes, I brought the music to a close. I glanced at the clock, and decided I should start heading to school. I debated whether I should just walk or drive, and I chose walk. I didn't want to attract attention today.

I gathered my school things and put them in my bag, and I slipped my magic coin in my pocket and my wand up my sleeve. I glanced outside and saw that it was rainy and windy, and I grinned. My favorite kind of day.

I skipped along the road to school, the weather lifting my mood. I am weird like that. The sunnier it is, the more miserable I am. On the other hand, the cloudier and rainier it is, the happier I am.

As I got to school, I tried to act normal. I tried to act all miserable, to match everyone else. It was kind of difficult. I started milling around, saying hello to a few of the students, mostly ignoring everyone else.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the main group of bullies, the Slytherins. I didn't want to learn their names, because I couldn't care less. Bullies were bullies. End of story.

I watched the Slytherins goof off, but then I saw them head towards a boy with obvious intent. They were going to hurt that boy. What happened next? I couldn't really tell you. It was like a fire burning inside me flared up. A fierce instinct to protect, to put myself in harm's way to protect the boy over came my senses and made me feel like I would explode if I didn't protect the boy.

I ran to the boy, but the bullies got their first. They shoved him around, and he tried to get out of it. I saw the leader throw a punch, and the boy got it in the gut. That made the fire within me reach a white-hot intensity. No one should hurt the innocent, no matter how much they want to.

I got to the group of bullies, but not before they had given the boy a pretty good beating. I shoved them away and bent over the boy, checking if he was conscious. I touched his neck, measuring his pulse. His eyes opened slightly at my touch, and I sighed in relief. If he was conscious it would make everything easier.

I tried to help him stand up, but it didn't work. I grabbed his arm, and I felt a hard ridge along his forearm. I pulled his sleeve up a little, and saw the tip of a wand. That just made the fire within me reach a wildfire. No one was going to hurt a wizard on my watch.

I set him back on the ground, and then stood over him, facing the bullies. A wave of déjà vu washed over me, and for a moment I was back on the Hogwarts grounds, standing over Colin Creevy's body, dueling Death Eaters. I shook my head, and I was back at the Muggle school, standing over a wizard who I didn't know, and about to get a beating from some Muggle bullies.

The leader threw the first punch. I dodged it, and grabbed his arm. I pulled him forward slightly, then kicked him hard in the gut. That didn't seem like a wise thing to do. The other bullies attacked me all at once, fists flying everywhere. I dodged and kicked and hit, and most of the time I made contact. I slowly drew the bullies away from the other students, making sure that they were safe.

The harder I hit, the harder they hit. It didn't register in mind to give up. It just wasn't an option. If I gave up, they would pick on other kids. Either I would beat them, or something else would make them stop. I just couldn't force myself to stop from slapping a face here, kicking a leg there.

Just when I thought that they would overcome me, the bell rang. The bullies laughed, and then stopped. They walked into the school, and I smirked.

_Saved by the bell._ I thought ruefully.

I walked over to the boy, and checked his pulse again. He opened his eyes faster this time, and I smiled at him. I helped him up, and pulled his arm around my shoulder, and placed my arm around his waist. I started limping with him up to the school, and just before we got inside, a burst of clapping came from behind me.

Startled, I looked back to almost the entire student body standing there, clapping. At first I didn't realize what they were clapping for. When it dawned on me that they were clapping for me, my face went red. After a minute, I realized that I needed to help the boy get to the nurse's office, and I turned back around and walked into the school.

As we limped down the hall, a few of the teachers gave us odd looks. It looked like the two of us had gotten in a fight, and normally the person who does the beating doesn't carry the person they beat up to the nurse's office.

When we got to the nurse's office, I found her reading a novel. When she looked up and saw us, her eyes got wide, and she hurried over. She helped me carry the boy over to a cot, and when she hurried out of the room to get supplies, I hurried over to the boy.

"I'm going to take your wand so the nurse doesn't find it." I whispered in his ear. "I'll give it back when she's done checking you, I swear."

The boy's eyes opened, and he nodded. I pulled up his sleeve and took his wand, then took my own and placed them in my bag. I started checking his cuts, seeing if there was any serious damage. He wasn't too bad, just a couple scrapes on his cheek and forehead, and a few bruises on his arms.

I rummaged around in my bag for my first-aid kit, and started cleaning the cuts. The entire time the boy watched me with wide eyes, but the longer I tended to his cuts the less tense he became.

"You know, you should probably be tending to yourself." The boy said, his eyes running over my own wounds.

I shrugged, and then winced. Not a good idea. "No, it's fine."

The nurse came in at that moment. "He's right dear," She said, hurrying over and examining the boy's wounds. "You're worse off than he is."

I shook my head, but winced again. Not such a good idea either. "No, no, tend to him first."

The nurse ran her eyes over my expression, and decided that it would waste time arguing with me. She started bandaging the boy's cuts, and I moved to sit on the next cot.

"So, what happened?" the nurse asked.

Before I could gather up an answer, the boy answered "She saved me."

I blushed, and the nurse raised her eyebrows. "Did she now? What did she save you from?"

They boy glanced at me, then hurried on. "She saw me get picked on by the group of bullies, and came over to help. She protected me, and then drew the bullies and fought five boys at once."

I blushed deeper. "You make it sound cooler than it was."

The nurse smiled at me. "You were either very brave or very stupid to do that."

I shrugged. "Maybe it's a little of both."

The nurse laughed. "Good point." She finished wrapping a bandage around one of the boy's bruises, and then turned to me.

"Now, you are going to take a little longer. You seem to have been fighting pretty well to receive these kinds of cuts and bruises."

Just then, the intercom crackled. "Would Nita Jensen and James Allred please come to their homeroom classes? Thank you."

I smiled and jumped up. "I'll be back later." I told the nurse.

The boy turned to me. "So you are Nita Jensen?"

I nodded. "Yep. And I assume you are James Allred."

The boy nodded. "Yeah, I am."

I put out my hand, and Joseph shook it. "Nice to meet you James."

"Nice to meet you too."

I nodded to the nurse, and then walked out of the office. I could tell that James was behind me, and so I slowed down. Once we were far enough from the office, I pulled my backpack around and took out our wands. I handed his to him, and then slipped my own up my sleeve. He did the same.

"Why did you do it?" James asked suddenly.

"Excuse me?"

"Why did you save me? You could have just ignored the fight and you wouldn't have gotten hurt." James explained.

"Oh." I was quiet for a minute. "I don't know how to explain it. When I saw the bullies heading towards you, a flame erupted inside me. I knew I had to stop them from hurting you too badly, at whatever cost."

James was quiet for a minute too. "So I guess you were in Gryffindor at Hogwarts?"

I nodded and laughed. "Yeah, I was. I'm guessing that you were in Ravenclaw?" I asked, noticing that he was wearing all blue.

James laughed and nodded. "Sure was."

We were quiet for a few minutes, then I asked "Who do you have for homeroom?"

"Markley."

"She's my English teacher. I have Purdy for homeroom." I explained.

James nodded. "Isn't Purdy right next to Markley?"

"I think so."

We walked the rest of the way in silence. I kept thinking back over the fight, and every time I did, I thought that I had been stupid. If the bell hadn't have rung, I probably would be unconscious and in the hospital. But then I would think that what I did was exactly what Gryffindor was all about. Blurring the line between brave and stupid every step of the way.

We stopped at the doors of our classrooms. I turned to James.

"Meet me at lunch, okay? We need to discuss some things." I told him.

He nodded. "Okay. And thanks for saving me."

I grinned. "That's what Gryffindors are for."

He smiled, then opened the door to his classroom. After a moment, I did too.

When I opened the door, I realized that every pair of eyes was on me. The teacher had stopped talking, and all the students had turned around in their seats too look at me. I paused for a moment, then walked quickly to my seat. I took out my books and placed them on my desk, then looked up at the teacher. Mr. Purdy just stared at me.

I started feeling self conscious. Did I really look that bad? I felt terrible, but I knew that judging by how I felt wasn't an accurate measurement. After a few more tense and awkward moments, Mr. Purdy started talking again, and the students faced forward.

"The principal has come up with a special ceremony to give awards to those who have shown exceptional behavior and academic success." Mr. Purdy said, looking me straight in the face.

Oh great. Now I was getting awards for my stupidity. I didn't _want_ the spotlight. Some Gryffindors might, but I wasn't one of those. I preferred to give the spotlight to someone else, someone who deserved it more.

"The ceremony will be this afternoon, right after lunch." Mr. Purdy went on. "It will last until the end of school."

There was a general cheer from the class. "Wonderful." I muttered darkly. "Just what I need."

Throughout homeroom class, people would keep staring at me. I tried to ignore the glances, but it was kind of hard to ignore the you're-so-crazy-and-so-odd looks. Now I knew how Harry Potter felt during his fifth year at Hogwarts. No one stopped staring at you.

Thankfully, Mr. Purdy was an excellent teacher who captivated our class. He read aloud from textbook, but his voice was able to paint pictures for us. He acted out what he was reading too. Today we were reading about the Trojan War, and he used his ruler to act out the swordplay.

The class ended quickly, and I was out of my seat and out the door before most students had even gotten up. I hurried from class to class, ignoring the stares from the other students. But inside the classrooms was the hardest. People kept whispering to each other, pointing at me, and then trying to stare at me throughout the classes.

When the bell rang for lunch, I was out of my seat immediately. I slung my bag over my shoulder and nearly ran out the door. I passed in front of a mirror, and I glanced at it. What I saw made me stop short.

I was an absolute mess. I had a black eye, and a bruise underneath the opposite eye. My hair was all scraggly, with blood matted into it. I had so many scratches it looked like a cat went to town on me. My arms were almost a plaid pattern, along with my face. I touched a scratch, then winced. It was still sore.

I continued to the lunchroom, weaving in and out of the students. I bought a bottle of lemonade, then scanned the room for James. I spotted the bullies leaning against one wall, and James sitting at a table near the opposite wall. I hurried over to him, keeping track of the bullies out of the corner of my eye.

When I got to his table, I paused for a moment, then sat down. James looked up from his lunch and smiled at me.

"You look better." I told him.

He shrugged. "Mainly because once one of my teachers saw me, she ordered me to go straight to the nurse's office."

I laughed. "Well, that's good, I guess. My teachers know not to argue with me, so they didn't send me to the nurse."

James shook his head. "Gryffindors." He scoffed. "So darn stubborn."

I grinned. "That's us."

We were quiet for a few moments. I sipped my lemonade, my thoughts back at Hogwarts. I kept trying to search my memories for James, but I couldn't remember him. Not in the D.A., not during the battle, nothing.

At the memory of the battle, my hand moved to my throat where Colin's necklace was. I touched it, and warmth spread over me. I felt the words on it change to Italian, and smiled.

James looked at my necklace. "What's that?"

My mind came back down to earth. "Oh, it's just a necklace." I said.

"May I see it?" James asked.

I hesitated for a moment, then took the necklace off and handed it to James. He fingered it gently, holding the stone in his palm. He touched the words, tracing them.

"It's beautiful." He said softly.

I nodded. "It is."

"Where did you get it?"

My chest felt like it was constricting. "Colin Creevy."

James was quiet for a moment. "He was a great friend."

I looked at him sharply. "You knew Colin?"

James nodded. "He and I fought together during the Battle, but then he ran off…I never saw him again."

I stared at James. "You…you fought with Colin? You came and helped him?"

James nodded solemnly. "Yeah, I did. In fact, Colin taught me most of the spells I know."

My respect for James nearly shot through the roof. He had fought with Colin. He had helped Colin. Colin had liked James enough to teach James how to fight. If Colin had liked James that much…James was certainly a good person.

"I fought alongside Colin too." I whispered.

James stared at me. "You what?"

"When Colin left you, he came and helped me fight." I explained.

"Oh."

I nodded. "Yeah, I know. If I hadn't snuck back, then maybe Colin wouldn't be dead. If I hadn't allowed myself to be injured, then Colin would still be here, studying with me."

James shook his head. "No, it wasn't your fault."

I looked at James. "How can it not be? I snuck back. I didn't watch where I was going, and allowed a spider to latch itself onto my leg."

James sighed, then put down my necklace. "No one is at fault. If you hadn't snuck back, more people would have died. And, if you had died instead of Colin, what do you think would have happened to your parents? And Colin couldn't have lived with himself if he allowed a comrade to fall."

I shook my head. "My parents could have survived. And I doubt Colin would have cared much if I died."

James snorted. "Yeah right. And I'm a Slytherin. All Colin talked about was you."

My eyes widened. "Really?"

James nodded. "He couldn't stop talking about how good you were at defensive spells, how you were the best at planning, how well you could aim…" he let his voice trail off.

I stared at James. "No way. You're joking."

James shook his head. "No joke."

I glanced down at my lemonade bottle, then unscrewed the lid and took a sip. My thoughts spun around crazily, bouncing off the walls of my brain.

James got up. "I have to go now. My homeroom teacher wants to see me before the assembly."

I glanced up at him, then nodded. "Okay."

"See you later." He said, then walked away.

I picked up my necklace, closing my fist around it. I got up and threw my lemonade away, then went to look out the window. It had stopped raining for the moment, but the clouds still looked angry. I set the necklace down on the windowsill, watching the cars drive by the school.

"Well what do we have here?" A nasally voice said.

I turned, and saw the school bullies standing there. Once that thought registered, my entire body tensed, ready for another fight.

They saw me tense and laughed. "You going to fight us again?" they teased.

I glared at them. "Only if needed."

The leader grinned. Before I could stop him, he grabbed my necklace from the windowsill, opened a window, and prepared to throw my necklace out the window.

"You wouldn't." I said flatly.

The leader laughed, then chucked the necklace as hard as he could out the window. I watched as it fell down two stories, and land in the parking lot. I turned back to the bullies.

"You still want me to fight you?" I asked, cocking my head to the side.

The leader grinned. "Heck yes!"

I glanced back out the window, and to my horror a bus rolled over my necklace. I could hear the bullies laughing beside me, but I didn't let that bother me. I cleared my head, took a deep breath, and turned back to the bullies.

"Why?" I asked in a calm tone.

The leader stopped laughing at my tone. "Because you've damaged our reputation. You got away from us."

I shrugged. "That was your fault, not mine."

The leader smirked, then reached up to touch my face. He touched a scratch, and it stung. I wondered briefly how much dirt was under his fingernails, but then rage took over. I swatted his hand away, ready for anything now.

"Oooh, look here boys. It looks like she's ready for a fight now." The leader laughed.

I spun around on my heel and started walking away. I so did not need another fight today. I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder, and it yanked me back.

"Where you going missy?" The leader asked, his mouth right next to my ear.

"To class." I said through gritted teeth.

"Not if we can help it." The leader said, then he spun me around.

What he probably expected was for me to turn around, maybe spit in his face, maybe yell at him, or even punch him. What he didn't expect, however, was that I used the momentum of him spinning me around to kick him in the gut. He doubled over, completely winded.

I spun around, ready for another attack. When I saw the other bullies staring at me dumbfounded, I smirked.

"Thank you six summers of karate." I muttered.

After making sure that I still had my bag, I walked away from the bullies and out of the lunchroom. I kept walking, keeping my emotions at bay. I could feel them building inside me, but I couldn't let them out, not yet.

I checked my watch, and saw that there was still about twenty minutes before the assembly started. I ran outside to the parking lot, hoping to find my necklace.

After about ten minutes of searching, I finally found it. It was chipped in several places, and the words flickered feebly. The chain was broken, and there were cracks riddling it. I held it in my palm for a second, my emotions having trouble registering. But then overwhelming grief washed over me. I closed my fist over it, and knelt on the asphalt. I had allowed the one memory I had of Colin get ruined.

My grief turned into solid resolution lightning quick. I wouldn't let those bullies hurt anyone else's' things. I would teach them a lesson, one that would make them remember not to hurt others just for the sake of it. I would make them pay for ruining people's lives.

I stood up and pocketed the necklace. I shook my damp hair out, and then walked resolutely into the school.

* * *

**So, how was it? Kind of short compared to the last couple chapters, but ah well_. The people who review get a sneak peek at the next chapter!!!_**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Nope. Wish I did, but I don't.**

**A/N: IT'S A MIRACLE! I actually had time to write. Here it is! You'd better like it, because I ditched homework to write for you guys. I felt really really bad about not finishing the story. I shall continue on, but beware that there may be months before the next chapter comes up, okay?**

I made my way into the gym, where the assembly was supposed to be held. I wove my way around various students, all of them giving me a small smile or a pat on the back. I mostly ignored them, but I did try to plaster a smile on my face.

I found a seat in the bleachers, high up and alone from everyone else. I kept my eye out for trouble, a thing only come from years of war. Things looked normal, or about as normal as things could ever get in high school. I didn't see the bullies, but I found James quickly. He waved, and came to sit next to me.

After a few minutes, the assembly started. The principal, Dr. Popalardo, walked up to the microphone with a grin on his face. He kept the grin on his face while the teachers behind him brought out a rack of medals.

"Welcome students!" He said, his voice echoing throughout the gym. "I hope you have had a good day so far."

There was an outburst of chatter, some booing, some cheering. James glanced at me and smirked. We kept silent, but we kept sarcastic looks on our faces.

"We have planned this assembly for months. We have watched every one of you, and chosen the best students to award. You have all done wonderfully, but these students show the epitome of the best qualities."

He turned to us, and his eyes met mine. I kept my eyes and mouth in a sarcastic expression, but inside, I could feel his eyes penetrating me. It was creepy. Only a few people had been able to do that, and none of them were good guys.

"We're going to call them down, telling you why they get the award, and giving them a reward for their exemplary actions." Dr. Popalardo said, and the teachers behind him nodded in agreement.

"Madison Baker." Dr. Popalardo called, and a girl with bushy brown hair stood up and made her way down to the teachers.

"She has shown awesome motivation and great grades." Dr. Popalardo explained as Madison got a medal and a gift certificate to a bookstore.

"James Allred." Dr. Popalardo called next, and James got up with a surprised look on his face. "He walked away from potential fights, and he has shown great compassion for everyone."

James made his way down to the stand, and got his medal and a teddy bear. He glanced at me and his eyes had a "Seriously? A bear?" look.

"Nita Morgan." I stood up, and felt everyone's eyes on me. A few people even cheered. I blocked out Dr. Popalardo's speech about me, because I'd heard it so many times. Yeah, I ran into burning buildings to save people, I was leading the war, I had good grades, and I stopped bullies from harming others. Nothing special.

I got my medal, and a small fire extinguisher, which I thought was kind of funny. I shook hands with Dr. Popalardo and the others, and there was a loud round of applause from the other students. I bowed a little, and James and Madison followed suit.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the bullies from earlier sneaking away. I muttered my apologies to Dr. Popalardo, and set my stuff down to follow them. James and Madison followed, and I didn't mind. I wasn't really in the mood for being beat up again.

Once we were out of the gym, I took a deep breath. I glanced around, and saw the bullies entering the woods. After a moment, I took after them, and I heard James and Madison following.

As soon as we were in the woods, we automatically took on a stealthier run. We could hear the bullies blundering around in the woods, and some other people talking. I didn't really pay attention to the other people, because they weren't important at the moment.

The bullies stopped at a large mound of boulders, with different levels and ridges, and trees grew on them. After a quick signal, James, Madison, and I crept up to the level just above the bullies heads. They were joking around and drinking, so they didn't notice us.

We hid behind trees, and after a few minutes of enduring the loud cussing and insulting comments, I stood up and moved out into the open. James was on my right, and Madison on my left. It took a moment for the bullies to notice us, but once they did, they immediately shut up.

"Hello, gentlemen." I said coldly. "Ditching to get drunk? No wonder you're failing school."

They laughed. "You're doing it too."

I raised my eyebrow. "Getting drunk? I don't think so. We're not that stupid. Ditching? Nope. We have excused absences." I said gesturing to James and Madison.

They stopped laughing. "We're stupid?"

I rolled my eyes. "No, you're freaking geniuses." I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "Yes, drinking, ditching, and beating up people makes you so smart."

That got them angry. They started trying to climb up to us, but they were too drunk to be able to find a good way up. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a movement in the bushes, but I didn't let myself be distracted.

I turned to Madison. "Hi. I'm sorry, but this is kind of a weird first impression." I said, sticking out my hand.

She shook it. "Hi. No problem. I have the worst first impressions ever."

I raised my eyebrow. "Worse than this one?"

Madison nodded and laughed a little. "Yeah. One time, at Hogw-" she cut herself off, but I had a feeling I knew what she was going to say.

I glanced at her arm, and I could see the tiny ridge that hid her wand. I smiled a little, and lifted the sleeve of my shirt enough to reveal the tip of my wand. She smiled too.

"I'm in Hufflepuff." She said. "What house are you in?"

"Gryffindor." I said, showing her the yellow and gold scarf that I kept in my bag.

I glanced over my shoulder, and noticed that James was looking at us.

"Oh, and James here was in Ravenclaw."

He nodded. "Great way to spend the day, huh?"

I nodded too. "Yup. Welcome to the life of a Gryffindor."

Madison laughed, and then cut off abruptly. She bent over, and I saw that one of the bullies had managed to climb up to us. He had a huge, triumphant grin on his face.

Before he realized what was going on, I grabbed his arm and spun him around, using the momentum that created to push him off the ledge. I turned just in time to see James be knocked against a tree, and Madison be kicked off the ledge.

I started to move towards the bully that had kicked Madison, but before I could get there, a tall man with bright orange hair was there, kicking and punching. I whirled around to find James, and found that he was being helped by a girl with bushy brown hair. The bully that had hurt James was curled in a ball, with a black haired guy standing over him. I finished spinning around, and found the two other bullies being taken care of by a girl who looked around my age, and another guy. Both of them had bright orange hair, and that made me think. Who else did I know had such bright hair?

That made me pause. The Weasley kids. And if there was Ginny, and George, and Ron then the brown haired girl must be Hermione, and the black haired boy must be....

"Harry Potter." I whispered, before I felt a sharp blow to my head and I blacked out.


End file.
